After London we took a family trip to Ireland for a few days. What a beautiful place that is! We travelled around with a private tour guide, who was so great! We visited Dingle, Killarney, Dublin, and Galway. We saw places like the Cliffs of Moher and the Rock of Cashel and toured around the little towns – and because my aunt was with me we just HAD to try the ice cream wherever we went 😊 I really loved Ireland and enjoyed spending some time with my family – but I must admit that it was weird going somewhere where I didn’t need the “Pink Panther” 😊  ​

I’d also like to announce that Ken’s son Curtis, who got me started in track and has been an amazing teammate and role model in the sport, has signed on to be my new coach. I am extremely grateful for him taking over so that I can continue on this incredible journey of doing what I love. It also means I can stay training with my other teammates, which is amazing. It will be an exciting new adventure as Curtis knows a lot about the athlete side of competing. He started in the sport at 10 years old and has been representing Canada internationally for 15 years. He has competed at 3 Paralympic Games – winning a Bronze in the 4x400m relay in Rio. His philosophy of training, competing and coaching is similar to Ken’s so is helping to make this transition a little easier. Athletics Canada have also been a great support during this time and is helping to oversee our group as well. I feel extremely lucky to have so many people around to help us continue to chase our dreams. ​

May, June and some of July. Where did they go? It's been a busy couple of weeks for us as our 2017 racing season got underway. Lots of traveling and being in different time zones. I feel very grateful for being able to see so much of the world (even if most times its just tracks and hotels 😊). Our first competition was the Desert Challenge Games that take place in Arizona. This is always a fun competition to go to and I have attended them every year, except 1, since I started racing in 2010. I had a lot of nerves competing here, as I do for most of the first races of each season. You train so much and so hard during the off season that you start putting expectations on yourself of how you will perform once you're back into competing and it's always nerve wracking, for me at least, to see how that training has paid off or what you need to work on. It's also nerve wracking because you don't know how you will match out with the other competitors, who have been training just as hard. So it's certainly nice to get the first race over with and can set goals and a plan for the rest of the competition season. Every race is a learning opportunity!

After Arizona we headed to Switzerland. There are always 3 different competitions in Switzerland, which take place in two different parts. This year the first 2 competitions took place in Arbon (which is the fastest track in the world and where we competed in 2015) and then the 3rd one took place in Nottwil. These competitions were a week a part so I just stayed for the first set in Arbon, on the better track. Overall, the races went well and I was really happy with them.

We were in Switzerland over the Bermuda day weekend. We woke up to an email from my aunt with the caption "Jessica is on a float" When we opened the email I was so amazed. The Department of Corrections in Bermuda designed a float for the Bermuda day parade that showcased some of Bermuda's sporting heritage and they had made a statue of me on the float. Thank you so much to the Department of Corrections for this amazing honor. To be recognized like that is truly humbling. They did a phenomenal job!!

My mom has been travelling with me again this year, which is awesome to have. So after Switzerland we both flew back to Bermuda, where I surprised my family with a short visit! I love surprises and it is always so fun coming up with ways to pull it off 😊 While at home we attended some of the America's Cup Races. Bermuda all I can say is WOW what a phenomenal job you did hosting it. It was so amazing to watch and learn about. The amount of good it has done for our little island is beyond incredible and I was so glad I was able to attend a part of it.

A week or so after I got back to Canada from Bermuda we loaded up in the car and drove to Sherbrooke Quebec to compete in the Ian Hume competition - a 7.5 hour drive. For those that know Bermuda where the longest it takes you to get anywhere is 45 minutes you know this was a huge feat! 'Bragging Granny Barb' was with us as well, which was great to have her along. At Ian Hume I took on a challenge - my first 1500m race. While in Switzerland we, Coach Ken and I, along with some nudging from other coaches and athletes, decided that I would try to qualify for the Commonwealth Games taking place next year in Australia. The only event offered for para-athletes, however, is the 1500m and the marathon. So I needed to compete in one to get a time. To qualify they take the top 9 competitors in the Commonwealth countries. Competing in the 1500m was...well...let's say...a lot of laps!! I had a really fun time though as one of the Canadian distance athletes, Diane who has been representing Canada for 25 years, worked with me by pulling me in the draft to help me get a good time. I crossed in 3:53.22, which I was so glad to be under 4 minutes. Now we just have to wait to see if that time will qualify me for the games...

'Bragging Granny' then stayed in Canada with me for the next week and a bit so that we could spend some time together. During that week I was asked to speak at a fundraiser dinner for 'Ability Online', which is an amazing organization. This organization is an online community for people who are differently abled where they can form friendships, build a support network, and develop skills. The whole idea behind it is to showcase an individual's abilities and create better self development and inclusion.

I got involved in this organization as a mentor, thanks to Jane and her mother Michelle, who is the executive director. I met Jane at Brock at an event that the club I was helping with (A.B.L.E) hosted, where she came and talked about 'Ability Online'. She then told her mother about me and Michelle reached out to me. I am very excited to be helping out and am so glad that I met them both. Michelle also has a degree in Therapeutic Recreation so it is so amazing to have that connection and be able to start using my TR knowledge in a live setting!!

At the end of June/beginning of July, Ilana, Jess (two racers for Canada) and I headed to Bermuda to compete in the Bermuda Invitational Permit Meet. What an incredible night it was! This was the second year this meet took place and it was about bringing in international athletes to compete against Bermudian athletes in front of their home crowd. I was so thrilled that a para-event was included into the night. This was a huge leap forward for para-sport in Bermuda and it was an absolute honor to be able to share wheelchair track with Bermuda. I am extremely grateful for Ilana and Jess for coming down to compete with me and to make history on our little island. Being able to race in Bermuda was a very proud and emotional moment for me. The support I receive from our country is beyond phenomenal. Thank you so much to Donna and the Bermuda National Athletics Association (BNAA) for including us and giving us the opportunity to share wheelchair track racing with Bermuda. I am looking forward to next year!!

It was a quick turn around from Bermuda as we had to get back to Canada to compete in Ottawa at Canadian Track and Field Championships. The drive there was 4.5 hours so seemed like a breeze after Sherbrooke! This competition is usually just open to Canadian athletes - who very kindly let me tag along. But this year it was open to international athletes so there were some from the US and a few other places. I came away with 2 first place finishes, 1 second place finish and 1 third place finish, which is a great way to end off the season before heading to the IPC World Para Athletics Championships next week in London England.

​Since I will no longer be on campus at Brock (☹) ​I had to find a new weight trainer that I could start working with in the off season. Back in May I went into the Goodlife gym and met a trainer named Gurpreet. She is very enthusiastic and I am very excited to get to work with her. She was amazing and came to the races in Ottawa to watch, meet Coach Ken and my teammates, and to learn some more about racing and the type of training I will need to be doing.

​Now we are on the countdown to leaving for World Championships (2 days to be exact!!) I will have 1 more training session tomorrow and then will be packing up Pink Panther and getting ready to compete in my third World Championships. Curtis, Isaiah, and Austin are all going to be there as well representing Canada. They have already flown there and we will meet up with them when we get there. These races will be taking place in the same stadium as the London 2012 Paralympic Games so I am excited to be back there and to relive some amazing memories from then. My mom, aunt Karen, dad and sister will be there to watch. My sister, Jacqui, is actually coming as our accredited official Massage Therapist, which is extremely exciting!!

Our gear for the games arrived the other day as well and they are amazing! We got the map of Bermuda and the long-tail bird sublimated right into the fabric - so we are keeping up with having unique uniforms 😊

​




​

The raceswill be livestreamed at www.worldparaathletics.org

​My races at present are scheduled for (all UK times):
- July 15: 200m final - 21:41
​- July 18: 400m semi-final - 12:40
​- July 19: 400m final - 21:12
​- July 23: 100m semi-final - 11:00
​               100m final - 12:45
​               800m final - 18:51

​After world's we will be going on a family trip around Ireland! Will be the first trip in a long time where I don't need to bring the Pink Panther!

​London 2017 here we come!!

Jessica
​-Desire, Dream, Vision-

Assumptions. There's a lot to be said about them. Like, everyone makes them or they are made pretty much everyday. As a person in the differently abled community, I experience assumptions on a daily basis, as I am sure a lot of others do, which are solely based on the fact that I am in a wheelchair. Some assumptions I have encountered in my life include that I don't have a working brain, I can't speak for myself or answer questions or I've had an assumption that my mom or I must have sinned in our lives for me to have a disability. But the overarching assumption I feel people have is that differently abled people are incapable of doing anything for themselves.

​Yes, I understand we all have different levels of capability, where some people may need more help than others, but we all get clumped together in that category, and because of that the assumption is made that a disability always, and automatically, = incapable.

​This assumption dictates a huge proportion of my life because it influences the way I am seen as a person and how other people interact with me. Some examples of this is that I have total strangers coming up behind me and they just put their hands on me or my chair, without announcing themselves, and they just start pushing me because they think I can't or I need help. I have also had total strangers, again, come up to me and just grab my stuff, that I am carrying, off my lap, or that I am pushing, out of my hands like bags, carts or boxes etc.

​I understand there is no malicious intentions behind those actions and that people are just trying to help but that can be very frightening and can cause damage or harm to the individual. Wanting to help is perfectly fine, and to me can be a part of our human nature, but the best thing to do is simply ask first if I or someone needs help rather than just assuming we do. Or, in many cases, the person will ask for help if they need it. I have lived my whole life in my chair and I have found, and continue to find, ways to navigate my life. And just because it may look like I am struggling to you doesn't mean that I am.

​As part of my disability my core muscles have been affected / they don't work as they should, so as a result I don't have the greatest of balance (those who know me will know I sometimes fall over just putting my hair up 😊). But by living with that and understanding it I have developed ways to compensate for it.

​Going back to my examples of just being pushed or having things taken away from me suddenly, I have had many occasions where I have fallen out of my chair or had all my stuff fall because it has knocked me off balance. Compensating for my lack of balance means that I have found specific ways of pushing my chair, or other things, as well as different ways of carrying things. Yes, it may look awkward or difficult to you, but it works for me, and when a sudden unannounced change happens it can cause some major problems.

​Another thing I would like to touch on is the importance of also listening to the person when they say they are fine, they are capable of doing it or they don't need help. We know what our capabilities and limitations are just like able-bodied individuals. We know what we can and can't handle. So please believe us when we say that and let us do it.

​Putting this into a different perspective, no one would just randomly go up to another able-bodied person unannounced and start pushing them / help them to walk, or just go up and grab their stuff and walk off with it. So, what is it that makes that behavior ok to do with someone who is differently abled? I am all for helping others but let's be conscious of the ways we do it and think about what that difference is, so we can come together, change it, and move towards greater understanding and inclusion! 😊

Jessica

​-Desire, Dream, Vision-

Hello 2017. I'm only 4 months late :p Time has just flown by! These past 4 months have been filled with a lot of excitement and a lot of bittersweet moments. So, where should I begin?

​January. Heading back to Canada after a nice Christmas break at home in Bermuda with my family meant that I was starting my last semester of my undergraduate degree at Brock, and I can't believe how fast it went!

​January also involved being a Plenary Keynote Speaker at the 2017 Niagara Student Leadership Summit that took place at Brock. For this speech I presented a 40 minute talk about my life, my journey of being an athlete, the hardest obstacle I have ever had to overcome and how I overcame it and what advice I have to give someone who feels they can't achieve their dreams because they think the obstacles in their life are too big to overcome. I accepted this opportunity with a lot of enthusiasm, as this was right up my alley: helping people see that they are capable of achieving anything they want and that their dreams can become a reality!

Through this speech I talked about not being afraid to find your greatness and grabbing a hold of any opportunity that comes your way. I talked about my life story, with coming to accept my disability, and dealing with people's attitudes and perceptions towards me that are just based on my wheelchair. From there I discussed a bit more about being at a Paralympic Games, where you are surrounded by other differently abled individuals showing the world what they are capable of doing, and even with limitations you can excel. To end the speech I talked about achieving dreams and 5 steps that have helped me overcome obstacles in my life to reach my dreams. Those 5 steps were: 1) Believe in yourself, 2) Be adaptable, 3) Be fearless, 4) Take action and 5) Remind yourself why you want it. I really tried to hit home that everyone's life path is different, we all have different dreams, we all experience limitations and obstacles that come up but we have the ability and strength within us to do and be anything that we want in the world. We can all be leaders and can be great!

February. Much of February involved getting Ethics Approval and collecting data for my group to complete writing and researching our thesis on Leisure Enjoyment at a Farmers market and a Supermarket. It is with great pleasure (and a lot of relief) after 8 months I can finally say we handed it in yesterday! YAY!

I was also asked by a professor, to come into her second-year disabilities class, to give a presentation on how I have created a meaningful life for myself. As well as how leisure has played a role in my life!

​My family hosted another fundraiser event for me at RED steakhouse. It was a great night and I am so grateful for the amazing support I have received and continue to receive. RED did an amazing job, as usual, and I really appreciate everything the staff did that night.

March. This month involved about 212km of hard work over a span of 10 days. Once again, Athletics Canada was very generous and amazing to let me tag along to the Canadian warm weather training camp in Daytona Florida. At camp, most days we trained twice, some once and we had 2 full rest days. We also had a track meet on the last day of the camp, which was a lot of fun. It is always so exciting to have the first race of the season because it gets your adrenaline pumping and ready for the rest of the season to come! I can't believe this will be my 7th year of competing already! We were again fortunate to be given the opportunity to train on the Daytona International Speedway. This year was a lot less windy than last year which was nice!

In March, I was also given the honor of receiving an Achievement Award from the Annual Bermuda Government Sports Awards for my participation in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and the IPC Grand Prix! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the ceremony as I was at camp, but my family went on my behalf with my mom accepting the award for me. This award is not just for me, it is for all the para-athletes in Bermuda who are beating the odds, overcoming challenges and training day in and day out to represent our beautiful island!

​April. My birthday month! We got back from camp on my birthday, April 3rd, and I headed right back to Brock to complete my final week of classes. It was certainly a bittersweet week as it has been my life for the past 6 years. In my last TR and Physical Rehab class, which was my second to last undergraduate class ever, I had the honor of being asked to speak about my life and give my classmates an idea of what it is like to live with a disability. This was to also give some perspective of the clients we will be working with as TR practitioners in the future. It was truly an honor to be able to speak and also an emotional moment for me.

Brock has been one of the best experiences of my life. It has given me so much in my life, both academically and personally. It has given me a home away from home where I felt a part of something and helped me learn more about myself and who I want to become through my degree in Therapeutic Recreation. I am eternally grateful for the incredible professors I have had over the course of this journey. They have been beyond amazing! Their passion for the field has fueled mine even more and I could never thank them enough for teaching me and guiding me along the way!

I have been waiting for the chance to get this official graduation picture, as I watched lots of my friends get it each year, and I am extremely proud to finally have one. I will forever and always be a badger! I don't officially graduate until next June, once my internship has been completed in September to December.

​I'd like to give a shoutout to my trainer in the gym for my last semester. Trevor, thank you so much for all of your help...and for the awesome t-shirt :) (I hate running)

Now that I have moved out of Brock, we begin our summer of racing!! :) I will be heading home to Bermuda at the end of the month for a visit and to help out at WindReach's Adaptive Sports Expo taking place on April 29th. The theme is "Sports for all" I am really looking forward to that, as one of their sports expo was where I got started in track. It will bring back some pretty amazing memories!

​This racing season will then continue on and we will head to Arizona, Switzerland, Brampton and Ottawa Ontario and then to London, England for the 2017 World Para Championships. Oh...and also...A RACE IN BERMUDA! Yes, that's right! The Bermuda Track and Field Association is hosting an international meet on July 1st, which will showcase Bermudian athletes against others from around the world. I am very excited that a para race will be included and will be having a Canadian racer come down to join me!

​I am also extremely grateful and humbled to say that Tokio Millennium Re has signed up to sponsor me again this year. It means the world to me to have their continued support and I am forever thankful to them for giving me the opportunities to continue training, competing and representing Bermuda.

I think that has caught you all up to speed...until next time...

Jessica & the Pink Panther

​-Desire, Dream, Vision-

As 2016 comes to a close we say goodbye to an Olympic and Paralympic Year...and what a year it has been!

​This year has been amazing and I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had to race around the world again and continue chasing my dreams. Racing in Rio was definitley the highlight of the year and provided me with even more determination and drive to continue developing as an athlete. Competing at my second Paralympic Games is a feeling I will never forget. It's so amazing to see so many countries come together for one common goal and to show what they are all capable of doing.

I have learned a lot this year in school, training, competing and in life and am so excited to take all of that with me into 2017. 2017 is an IPC Athletics World Championships year, which will be taking place in London, in the same stadium as the London Paralympic Games! I can't wit to be back in that stadium :) 2017 will not only be a great year for racing but I will be beginning the next chapter of my life as I am finishing at Brock University and will be doing an internship at a Long-term Care Home.

​Thank you to all the people that made this year so special and for your continued support along my track racing journey. Thank you to my sponsor Tokio Millennium Re for their continued support. I am looking forward to developing more as an athlete as I start my 4 year journey to Tokyo 2020 and it couldn't be done without all the love and support from everyone.

​I wish you all a happy and healthy year ahead filled with love, happiness, and dreams :)

And remember...

​"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one!" - Brad Paisley

​Jessica

​-Desire, Dream, Vision-

I am sitting in my dorm room working on cover letters for my applications for finding an internship for the fall of 2017 to finish off my degree in Therapeutic Recreation at Brock University and I just can't believe how fast these past 6 years have gone. Not only have these past 6 years been an amazing journey through track but I have developed a better understanding, through theory and hands on experience, the power that leisure can have in developing a person, and improving quality of life and overall life satisfaction. I am so excited to start applying this knowledge and experience to help other people discover what sports and leisure experiences have to offer as it has given me so much in my life!

I must say that life after Rio has been a big reality check as I have been slowly coming down from the high of the games but still holding onto the incredible memories of the experience. Rio was something that I had been working towards for the past 4 years and suddenly it was over! It was definitely a feeling that is hard to explain but it's kind of like I was lost and I had a hard time getting back into the swing of being a student again and catching up on what I had missed. But with the amazing support of family and friends I am back on track (pun intended :)). Now we are starting our next 4-year journey to Tokyo 2020 and I am feeling so excited for all the possibilities it will provide!

A few weeks ago I was in Bermuda for my reading week break, which turned out to be just in time for Hurricane Nicole! I am happy to say that we made it through with minor damage and I enjoyed being able to spend more time with my family as we were cooped up inside!

​

While in Bermuda, BHS asked me to come in to speak to both primary students and secondary students. For these speeches, I talked about what it meant to me being disabled and how it should just be seen as being differently abled. I also discussed the Paralympic Games and how it fosters individuality and possibilities without judgments, or bullying and how that wouldn't be possible by confining people to negative labels, such as disability. I also did a demo in the Pink Panther that involved getting in and out of it, showing how it had been built specifically for me and showing the push techniques. The following is my speech:

Training after Rio has involved a lot of mileage and tempo endurance as we are training for the Niagara Falls 1/2 Marathon, which is taking place tomorrow! We have done a mixture of road, track, and roller practices to get ready for it. I am very thankful to Dan, who works at Brock, who has gone out on the road with me on his bike to help be a guide for cars so they know I am on the road since I sit so low to the ground. His help has been amazing and he even came out when it was only 2 degrees Celsius out! (I'm definitely not in Bermuda anymore!! Brrrrr!)

Here's to 21 kilometers' tomorrow morning! I think the Pink Panther is ready for it! :)

Jessica

​-Desire, Dream, Vision-

We arrived in Rio on September 3rd after a very enjoyable 10-hour flight in our first class seats! Boarding the plane made the experience finally come real and I was so excited to get there and start competing. I was asked a lot before going about all the negative things that were being said in the media about the games and Rio, such as the safety, zika virus, water pollution etc etc, and if I was nervous about going. I can honestly say I wasn't nervous about any of that, I knew that it was going to be an amazing experience, and I wasn't wrong! Rio did an incredible job and it is such a shame it got all of that negative media attention. Rio is beautiful and the people were all so friendly and helpful.

The first day we got there my mom, who was our Chef de Mission again, went to our final DRM meeting. This meeting is where everything is confirmed, such as what accommodation we will be needing, our sport entries, etc, and then we were finally allowed to enter the athletes village. The village was absolutely beautiful. It was definitely set up differently to London's. This village was more in a circle with pathways, Rio and Paralympic statues, tennis courts, and water fountains in the center of all the buildings with each court having their own pool. Our accommodations were great as we all ended up having our own bedrooms. The transport mall, dining tent, NPC services, Chef de mission office, polyclinic, gym, and casual dining area were on the outskirts of one side of the village. The other side contained the welcome center, which had lounge chairs, souvenir store, post office, bank, hair salon, Samsung mobile store, general store and as usual McDonalds, which sponsors the games. We estimate that the McDonald's sponsorship is huge as there was lineups everyday all day for people to get the free food!

The first day there we spent checking out the village and getting settled in. The next day we headed to the training track to get a practice session in. The practice track was at a university air force base. Our timing worked out perfectly as when we got there people were leaving the track and when we were done people were arriving so I had the whole track to myself!!

On the 5th of September we saw that there was a tour of the stadium happening for coaches so they could get an idea of the call room procedures and to see the lay of the land. The athletes tour would then be the next day...or so we thought! We arrived there and realized they were both scheduled for the 6th but we ended up doing our own little tour and went into the stadium to see it. It was pretty exciting to finally see it in person. We went back to the actual tour as well on the 6th as after it we were able to train on the competition track and practice some starts under the gun. It was exciting to be pushing on the track where I would be racing in the next few days. My nerves definitely kicked in then as it was a dream coming true.

Bermuda was officially welcomed to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games with an official welcome ceremony, where our flag was raised and our national anthem was played. There was also a little show put on by Brazil and the mayor of the village spoke and exchanged gifts with each country. It's always an emotional and prideful moment watching the Bermuda flag being raised!

September 7th then came around, which was the day of the opening ceremony. Ken and I headed to the track in the morning to get my pre-race workout done (as my first race was the next day) and then headed back to be ready for our 2:30pm pick up to head to the stadium for the ceremony. Since I raced the next day Ken, Mom and I left the stadium after we had walked through in the parade of athletes so that it wouldn't be too late of a night. The rest of the team stayed for the whole ceremony. ​

I had the honor of being the flag bearer again. I get goosebumps when I am given the flag. It's definitely a moment I will never forget and it was just as prideful and emotional as it was when I carried it in London. We arrived back in our apartment at the village in time to watch the Paralympic flame being lit on our TV.

The next day we headed to the stadium bright and early as I had my 100m semi final in the morning and the final was at night. I qualified for the final with the 7th fastest time overall. I didn't have a good start in the race so wasn't too happy with how the race went, but I refocused and was so ready for the final. There was about a 4-5 hour gap in between the races so we ended up staying at the track to avoid any risk of not making it back to the track in time. Racing in the final was an amazing race to be a part of. I placed 6th but held 2nd for the majority of the race and was caught close to the line. I am quick off the start but don't have enough power yet to keep up at the end where others are stronger. It certainly helps me to know what I need to focus on in training now. I was, an am, extremely proud of coming 6th against the best T53 racers in the world!

My next race was the 400m, which took place on Ken's birthday! Going into that race Ken and I set a goal of going for a PB and to try and break the 1 minute mark. I managed to get 50% of that goal by getting a PB of 1:00.25! Inching closer to breaking that minute!! I finished with the 11th fastest time out of 13 so didn't advance to the final. However, I saw that race as a huge success, not just because of the PB but because I was right up there with the rest of the field, whereas in London I was left in the dust. It definitely gives me more confidence and motivation to continue getting stronger and working on the longer distances.

I then had a week break until my 800m race, which was my last event at the games. During that time I was able to go and watch my teammates Austin and Curtis compete in their races. I was also able to go and watch Yushae compete in Boccia. It was exciting to get to cheer for Bermuda! Yushae did an amazing job in her Paralympic Debut. She showed so much determination, focus, and class as she played the games. I was very proud to be there to watch her compete on the highest level of sport.

On the 15th Ken, Mom, Dad, Ken's wife Karen, her friend Helen and I went on a day tour around Rio. We had an amazing day! Our tour guide Ederson and driver Wilson were incredible! We started the tour by going up to see Christ the Redeemer. He is 38 meters tall and his arm width is 28 meters. It took them 5 years to build the statue and the church maintains it. The drive up was very steep then we had an elevator ride and 2 escalators to get to the top. The view over Rio is amazing. We then drove around the city and went down the Selaron Tile Steps, made by one man who only stopped designing and laying them because he passed away. After visiting the incredible Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian with the amazing stained glass panels, we had lunch at Confeitaria Colombo, the most famous pastry and coffee shop in Rio. After that we went to see the Olympic Boulevard area where there was a big screen TV, which streamed the games. Near the Boulevard was the area that the Paralympic Torch was located, so of course we had to go and see that! ​

As we were leaving the Olympic Boulevard area our tour guide Ederson asked if I wanted to take a photo with some Brazilian high school students who were there. It turned into being one of the most amazing moments of the games for us. The group started out small and as more kids realized what was happening the group grew! It was an incredible experience! I have goosebumps even just writing about it!

​After the tour day it was back into competition mode as my 800m race was 2 days away. I was nervous and excited about doing the 800m. I knew that it would be a long shot to get into the final, so Ken and I made a realistic goal for me to shoot for in the race. My personal best time in the 800m going into this race was 2:03.40 so we made a goal to try and get into the draft pack and go for a PB in this race as well and try and break the 2-minute mark. Similar goals to the 400m race.

I managed to get on the end of the pack for a little bit of the race until I was dropped. I started to run out of gas at the 600m mark but I was determined to go for a PB. I crossed the line and looked up at the score board and saw my time was 1:58.24!! I had to double check that it was my name next to that time! :) I was so excited that I had done it! A 5 second PB to finish off my Rio 2016 experience. I was also excited because, as that was my last race, Ken was taking me to McDonalds to get a hamburger and fries, which I had been craving for most of the trip! :)

Even though I didn't make the final that night we headed back to the stadium to watch Curtis compete with 3 other Canadian athletes on the 4x400m relay team in the final. The first run of the relay didn't go as planned as there was a mix up by the officials of lanes and tags between the athletes causing Canada to have to stop pushing as to not interfere with the other athletes. They ended up coming 4th but protested the race because of the mix up. After officials reviewed the footage of the race they agreed to let the race run again. This time Canada was fueled even more from the emotions of the first race. It was amazing to watch the team compete. They all work so well together and to see Curtis push, after being off for 2 years, and be up there passing other athletes was awesome. The team pushed extremely well and came home with a bronze medal! It was incredible to witness!

Ken, Mom, Dad, Karen, Helen, and I left Rio the next day before the closing ceremony as they needed to get back to work and I back to school to start my final year at Brock University! I may have gone a little mascot crazy at the airport to bring back so many great memories of an incredible experience!

I can now call myself a 2x Paralympian, which is a truly humbling and exciting thing! We now all have some time off and will be getting back into training at the beginning of October to get ready for a half marathon we are doing at the end of October. Training will be geared towards developing more strength and power to get ready for the London 2017 World Championships in July next year!

So, here is to the next 4-year plan and journey to get to Tokyo 2020!! ​​

P.S. If you are ever in Rio and get tired of walking or wheeling around in the Metropolitan Mall just jump on a mechanical kangaroo!!

Jessica

-Desire, Dream, Vision- ​​




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The Road to Rio continued on after Switzerland and took us to Indianapolis for the Fast Cow and Indy Int'l competitions and then onto Edmonton for Canadian Nationals. I am very grateful to the Canadian team for allowing me to compete at their nationals every year because it gives me the opportunity to compete against some incredible athletes and to have another opportunity to be on the start line.

Another thing I love about going to Canadian Nationals is that I get to watch my teammates compete against the other best athletes in Canada. My teammates inspire and motivate me everyday and to be able to watch their training and progression every year is amazing. All 3 of them pushed extremely well, coming away with a lot of hardware I might add too! In particular, watching Curtis, who got me involved with track, was amazing. Curtis, previous to this year, had been off from competing and training for nearly two years due to medical issues, and what a comeback he has made to the sport in a very short amount of time! He has qualified for Rio, which will be his third Paralympic Games! My other teammate Austin has also been pushing extremely well and has qualified for Rio, his first Paralympic Games, and I couldn't be happier for both of them. They are both over in Rio now at a Canadian pre camp getting ready for the games and I can't wait to go over there at the end of the week to join them and to watch them compete on the world stage​!

I would also love to say the biggest thank you possible to my other teammate Isaiah who works so hard everyday and is an incredible teammate who has helped Curtis, Austin and I get ready for Rio. His hard work and dedication is amazing to watch and he certainly had a phenomenal year, with achieving a new PB, at every competition we went to this year! ​

To Coach Ken I would also like to say the biggest thank you. Without your support, encouragement, knowledge and dedication to your athletes we wouldn't be where we are today. ​

After Canadian Nationals in July I had a bit of downtime and took a week off from training to rest and recover and be ready to start the final weeks of preparation for Rio. So of course I went home to my beautiful island to spend some time with my amazing family and friends! I also went home as we were throwing my dad a surprise birthday party which, thanks to my sister, Jacqui, hard work in planning, turned out amazing! It was definitely a night we won't forget anytime soon! Being away from home as much as I am I really treasure the moments I get with my family.

After my visit home it was back to Canada and back to full on training. The first week back we took things a bit lighter so that we could get back into training (yes, my arms certainly felt the 5 days off I had!) We then transitioned into doing more tempo endurance with drafting to help Austin and I with our training for the 800m races we will be doing in Rio.  After a couple of weeks of that we then transitioned into doing more sprint work and practicing our starts. ​

On August 2nd my mom and I went to Brock University as they were throwing a Rio Send Off Event for Brock students, alumni and faculty that would be attending the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games! The atmosphere was incredible! I will be starting my sixth year at Brock after Rio and I am so grateful for the amount of support they have given myself, and all their athletes, over the years. It is a community that I am very proud to be a part of. In attendance at the event was the kids sports summer camp that Brock holds. It was so great to see so many kids there getting involved with sports and to know that Brock is helping to bring up the next generation of athletes!

I must add that this training was going on it was amazing to watch Bermuda's 8 strong team compete in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games!! I would like to extended a huge congratulations to Tre, Tyrone, Michelle, Rebecca, Cameron, Ceci, Julian and Flora for all their hard work they all put in to get to the Olympic Games, and while there showing the world what they are capable of. Bermuda is extremely proud of you! ​

Now, it is Yushae and my turn to compete in Rio! Another exciting thing about watching the Olympics is that you get a chance to see the venues and areas on TV so you can get a better understanding of where you will be competing. It still amazes me when I think that London was four years ago and we were planning our 4 year plan to get to Rio and it is finally almost here! A lot has happened these past 4 years and it has been an incredible journey. I can't wait to get out on the track and do what I love against others who share the same goals and passions.

I am so excited to have a Bermuda teammate coming to the games! This will be Yushae's first Paralympic Games and I am over the moon excited for her and so proud of how far she has come in such a short amount of time. We have been talking a lot about the games and our preparations for them. Yushae says "Training is going great and going to Rio is really exciting and very emotional" ​​

I must admit that I have been trying to write this blog for a while now and was having a hard time finding the right words to explain the last few month's journey because it has been filled with a lot of different emotions. But one thing that is for sure is that I am so honored, proud and excited to be representing Bermuda at my second Paralympic Games and to have another athlete on that journey for the first time is incredible!

We are now in the final stretch on the Road to Rio and I am just booming with excitement, pride, and nerves. Thank you to everyone for the continued support and encouragement along this journey. It has been amazing having it! A special thanks to my family for understanding all the things I have to do to continue chasing my dreams. Thank you to my sponsors Tokio Millennium Re for their ongoing support and belief in me. Sport really takes a village and I am very grateful to have such an amazing company behind me!

We will be leaving for Rio on Friday, September 2nd. The Opening Ceremonies will be held on September 7th, where I again have the honor of carrying the Bermuda flag! :) (Fun fact: today marks 4 years since I carried the flag in the opening ceremonies in London!)

Here is Yushae and my schedule of when we are competing. Yushae is classified as a BC2 athlete and I am classified as a T53 athlete. All times are Brazil times, which works out well as it is the same time as Bermuda! ​​​

Opening Ceremonies: - September 2nd

My schedule:
September 8th:    - 100m T53 heats 12:30pm 
                           - 100m T53 final 6:54pm
                           - 100m T53 Medal Ceremony 7:43pm ​​​​​
September 10th: - 400m T53 heats 12:31pm ​
September 11th: - 400m T53 final 5:30pm 
                           - 400m T53 Medal Ceremony 6:42pm
September 17th: - 800m T53 heats 10:16am 
                           - 800m T53 final 5:42pm
                           - 800m T53 Medal Ceremony 6:28pm

Yushae schedule:
September 13th: - 11:15am-12:30pm and 6:15pm-7:30pm
September 14th: - 4pm-5pm
September 15th: - Quarter finals at 1pm 
                          - Semi final game at 530pm
September 16th: - Bronze medal game at 11:20am
                          - Gold medal game at 3:45pm ​​​
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Feel free to follow along for updates on Yushae and my journey at the games on:



To follow me:
Facebook: Jessica Lewis (Para-athlete)
Twitter: @Trackgirl_Lewis
Instagram: jesslewisparalympian


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To follow Yushae:
Facebook: Yushae Asha Marie DeSilva-Andrade
Twitter: @boccia_girl_93
Instagram: boccia_girl_yushae









Let's do this Rio!!!

Jessica

-Desire, Dream, Vision- ​​​​​​​​​​​

The next stop on the Road to Rio was Notwill Switzerland. We arrived on May 24th and raced May 26th - 29th in two separate competitions. This was my fourth time in Switzerland and was the shortest trip there as the two competitions were back to back. The first competition was the IPC Athletics Grand Prix, where w were put into heats based on the seed times we submitted when we registered, which were classified as the prelims. The second competition was the Swiss Nationals, where we were put into heats based on the times we did during the IPC Grand Prix, which were classified as the finals.

I competed in the 100m, 400m, and 800m races as the 200m race isn't offered for my class (T53) at the Rio Paralympic Games. I was so excited to compete on the track again in Switzerland because I had such great memories of racing last year for the first time in the pink panther! The first 2 days, during the IPC Athletics Grand Prix, we had beautiful weather! I came away from the competition with a new PB of 16.92 in the 100m race and times close to my PB's in the 400m and 800m races. The second 2 days, during the Swiss Nationals, were rainy on and off so the klister needed to be brought out (klister is a glue like substance, made from sap, that we put on our push rims and gloves to help us stick to the rim better and avoid slipping in the rain). Again, like the first competition, I pushed times close to my PB's in the 400m and 800m races and broke the PB again in the 100m to achieve a new time of 16.81in a very close and competitive race between some incredible athletes!

It is always so amazing to ​go to these competitions and be connected with a huge group of individuals, all who have different lives but all have one common goal and interest. It's really true when they say sport brings the world together! I believe that there were 50 countries represented at the competitions and it is so cool to be a part of that!

We left Switzerland on May 30th, which was a very exciting day! IT marked 100 days to go to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games!! Isn't that insane?! It seems like it was just yesterday that I was wheeling up to the start line at the London 2012 games. I can't wait to represent Bermuda at my second Paralympic Games and am so excited that I will be doing so alongside another athlete! Yes, that's right! Bermuda will have a "big" team this year!! My friend Yushae has qualified and received word that she will be going to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in the sport of Boccia!! I am so excited and proud of her and can't wait to watch her compete at her first Paralympic Games!

Oh, and how could I forget to mention that I met a new friend in Switzerland! Everyone, I would like you to meet Daisy!!

Now I am back in Canada for a few days and will head to Indianapolis on Friday to compete in the Fastcow and Indy Int'l competitions on the weekend!

Jessica
- Desire, Dream, Vision- ​​ ​

The first race of the 2016 racing season took place last weekend in Arizona where it was a very mild 104 degrees!! The competition is called Desert Challenge and is one that I have been going to every year, besides one, since I started competing in 2010. It is also a special competition for me as it is where I qualified for the 200m race for the London 2012 Paralympic Games in 2012!

It is always such a great feeling to get back on the track and race for the first time in a new season. You work so hard during the off season from competition and always anticipate how the racing will go. You also feel all the adrenaline and excitement that comes with pulling up to a start line, which is a completely different feeling from doing it in training.

This competition is always a whirlwind as we fly in, race, and leave. We got to Arizona on May 12th and raced the 13th and 14th and flew back on the 15th. My first race on the 13th was the 800m and I came away from that with a second place finish and 3 seconds off my PB time. This race isn't my strongest one yet but I definitely feel stronger in it as I get more experience racing it and training for it. I then competed in the 100m and 400m on the 14th where I placed first in the 100 and second in the 400. Overall, I was happy with how the competition went and can't wait to continue racing this season!!

My teammates also had a great competition with Isaiah and Austin coming away with PB's in their events! It is so great to watch them race because you see the amount of dedication and hard work they put in on a daily basis during training and to see it all pay off for them is awesome!​​

 On the 13th before the 800m race we went to the Bass Pro Shop and man what an amazing place that is!! I even found something new I could race in! Needless to say coach said no (I think it had to do with not being able to fit in a lane?...or maybe because of the motor? ;) haha)

Now the training continues (in the pink panther!) as we get ready to leave for Switzerland next week to compete in 2 competitions over 4 days. ​​​​​It's crazy how fast the time flies...I feel like I just left Switzerland last season. I'm so excited for this as it is always a wonderful competition with a lot of competition...and of course a lot of chocolate! :)

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - ​​

It has been an exciting couple of days. It actually began with a Facebook memory that came up on my account. The memory was from 6 years ago and was a status I had posted about heading to my first international competition EVER! It brought back some pretty incredible memories of wheeling up to that start line for the first time and how that single moment changed my life completely. These past 6 years have been an amazing experience and has helped me grow as a person. I am definitely on the right track in my life (no pun intended :) ) and can't wait to see where this journey will continue to take me in the future. It also gave me the opportunity to look at how far I have come from that first race in Tampa in 2010 and gives me more motivation and belief in how far I still have yet to go. As my coach and I say "This is just the beginning!"

The excitement then continued when 2 of my teammates, Austin and Isaiah, and I helped out my coach, Ken, at a Wheelchair Racing Clinic he was running for new interested parents, coaches, and athletes in Mississauga, Ontario. This was very meaningful to me as it was a similar event held at WindReach in Bermuda where I was introduced to wheelchair track. I am so happy to 'pay it forward!' The interested athletes ranged from age 4-10 and we got them into some racing chairs and went around the track with them. It was so awesome to work with the kids and get them involved/interested in wheelchair racing. The clinic was also run on the warm-up track at York University that was used for the Toronto 2015 ParaPan American Games last August, so it was an amazing feeling going back there and reliving those memories from the games.

Last week then ended with a bang! The Bermuda Paralympic Association received official word, from the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) that Bermuda was awarded 1 female spot in Athletics for the ​Rio 2016 Paralympic Games! (spots for athletes at these games are allocated to countries, not athletes in specific, and then the country decides who fills the spots.) This means that I have officially been told that I will get to represent Bermuda once again at a Paralympic Games! (YAY!) I am so excited for these games and am so looking forward to racing against the best athletes in the world in the T53 class. This also brought back memories from London (I can't believe that was 4 years ago!) and I can't wait to see where I stand compared to London where I placed 8th in my 3 races - 100m, 200m and 400m.

I am officially on the Road to Rio!! The first wheel on this road will be in 3 days when I compete at the Desert Challenge games in Arizona on the weekend (but who's counting? :) ). We then go to Switzerland at the end of the month, Indianapolis the beginning of June, and Edmonton for Canadian Nationals (thanks again Athletics Canada for letting me compete) in the beginning of July. Then it will be the final preparations for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games where we will head down to Brazil at the beginning of September. The opening ceremonies of the games is September 7th and I will be competing in the T53​ 100m, 400m, and 800m races as there is no 200m event for my classification.

Thank you to my coach Ken for believing in me and helping me get on this Road to Rio!! Thank you to my family for being there every wheel of the way and understanding what I have to do for this sport. Thank you to my teammates for always pushing each other. Thank you to my friends for encouraging me and supporting me. Thank you to my sponsor Tokio Millennium Re for their continued assistance and belief in me. And thank you to all of you for continuing to follow ​my journey!

We did it...RIO HERE WE COME!​

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - ​

Disability. This term, according to Webster's dictionary, can be defined as "a condition (such as an illness or an injury) that damages or limits a person's physical or mental abilities. The condition of being unable to do things in the normal way. The condition of being disabled." A disability can also be seen as an inability to do something. This term is placed on a select group of individuals in the world and is something that needs to be redefined and be seen in a different way. There is a negative connotation that comes along with this term that has been socially constructed. The reality of it is that everyone has a disability.

Now, I know the previous statement is a big one, and maybe even one people don't want to associate with, so let's break it down. If someone isn't able to snap their fingers, or whistle, wouldn't' that be considered a disability? ​Looking at the definition above, it is an inability to do something, right? So my question is, why are some disabilities looked down upon and pitied and others aren't? Just because we aren't able to do things like walk, see, or hear, we should not be pitied. We all have limitations of some kind, some more visible then others, but that doesn't mean they should be treated differently. Our inabilities shouldn't be the focus of who we are.

The label creates a negative mindset on society as a whole, individuals, and maybe even the individuals who have the label attached to them, because it focuses on inabilities. It labels people as incapable right off the bat and allows for perceptions of people before they even get a chance to meet you. We can learn so much from one another if we have an open mind and stop jumping to conclusions when we see people. I can't even begin to count the amount of times people will not talk to me and will talk to the person I am with because they don't think I have a working brain or can speak for myself. Let's work together and educate others to change this negative mindset and see the person for who they are not for what they are not able to do.

I would also like to break down a specific part of this definition. This part is "the condition of being unable to do things in the normal way." What is the normal way? Isn't everyone's normal different? My normal is to live my life sitting down, I know nothing different, just like it is another person's normal to live life standing up, they know nothing different either. So how come one normal is seen as the correct way and the other is pitied? If we all try to be the same and do everything the same or normal ways we will loose what makes us unique.

I've decided to call this blog "Redefining Disability" because that is exactly what I want to do. I want to change "Disability" to "Differently Abled." This redefined term has the power to change a negative mindset and stereotype to positive ones because it focuses on abilities. It puts the person first and not their limitation because there should never be a DIS in someone's ABILITY!

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - ​​​​​

 Wow, its been awhile since I have posted a blog…where has the time gone?! Life is definitely an amazing journey and we just have to hold on tight for the ride.
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The amount of support I received after World Championships in October (and still continue to receive) has been absolutely incredible and I am so grateful for it! Coming away with a medal at world championships (and ParaPan American Games) has given me so much confidence and motivation to become stronger and faster.

After world’s I returned to Brock University to continue on my journey here to becoming a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. I was greeted with a class presentation worth 20% of my final mark the morning following our return…the life of a student athlete….one day you’re racing on a track in Doha Qatar…the next you’re sitting in front of a classroom in Canada presenting about social factors influence on leisure. It can be a bit of a hectic life at times but I wouldn’t want to have it any other way :)

I was able to go home to Bermuda on December 13th after my exams were complete for a whole 3 weeks!! Needless to say I was a very happy girl! The saying “You can take the girl out of the island, but not the island out of the girl” is certainly true. There is no better feeling than returning home and being surrounded by family! You definitely appreciate every second you get to spend with them when you spend the majority of the time away from them.

While I was home I was given an incredible recognition...I was chosen to be part of the 10 Most Fascinating People of Bermuda for 2015! I had my interview on December 21st and was told that in January the total list of 10 people would be released one by one and then the final person revealed would be the most fascinating person of the year. I am incredibly excited and honored to say that I found out last Thursday that I was chosen as the Most Fascinating Person and my profile was released yesterday. It is an incredible recognition and honor and am so thrilled I have the privilege of representing such an incredible place! Thank you so much to the host and creator of the series Lisa...I am so thankful to you for including me in this and choosing me. Lisa did an incredible job on the series and I really enjoyed getting to meet her and chatting with her during the interview. If you would like to watch my interview, please go to: http://bernews.com/2016/02/video-final-10-spotlights-jessica-lewis/

And then just like that, 2015 came to an end! It seemed to be over in a blink of an eye...I started the year racing in Australia and I ended it with 2 medals around my neck from two big competitions and a ranking of 3rd in the world in the 100m. 2015 is definitely a year I will not be forgetting any time soon and I am so grateful for all the experiences I had that are making me more confident and a better athlete. ​ 

Now we move into 2016. A PARALYMPIC YEAR! How crazy is that?! The London 2012 Paralympic Games feels like it was just yesterday and already the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games are only 7 months away!! Just like 2015, 2016’s racing season will be a long and fully packed one. It begins in March when I attend the Canadian National Team’s training camp in Florida! Thank you to Athletics Canada for inviting me to join! We then will travel to many of the same races we took part in last year (Switzerland, Arizona, Edmonton) and a few others and the season will finish with the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games! I have qualified already in the 100m, 400m, and 800m races but am waiting to receive the official word from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) that Bermuda has received a spot in Athletics to compete at the games. There is no 200m race in my classification at the games, so training now is involving a bit more distance work to get ready for the 400m and more specifically the 800m race.

I will be traveling back to Bermuda in a couple of weeks, as I have a week break from Brock. During that week I have been asked to speak at the International Women’s Club of Bermuda luncheon, the annual meeting at WindReach and then we are hosting two fundraiser events…so it will be a packed week! My coach and his wife are also going to be coming down for the fundraiser events where my coach and I will be doing some presentations.
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A HUGE thank you to my coach, his family, my family and friends, my sponsor Tokio Millennium Re, Bermuda and everyone else who is supporting and encouraging me along this incredible journey! Having a support system like I do is absolutely amazing!
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So here’s to the continuation of this journey into a Paralympic year!! Let’s do this…I am SO READY!  

Oh and P.S. I think I have found something new to race in!! ;)

Jessica and the Pink Panther

-Desire, Dream, Vision- ​

        We (coach Ken, mom and I) arrived in Doha Qatar on October 19th after a 19-hour journey from Canada to Frankfurt Germany with a 6-hour layover and then onto Doha. Upon arrival we had a very warm welcome! Not just the weather but from the people as well. We were on the same flight as the Germany team so there was a big group of us who were met by Doha 2015 volunteers who escorted us through the airport. To get to immigration they loaded up airport carts and the wheelies held onto the sides of them as it was a bit of a distance to go. We got through immigration smoothly and headed to baggage, where they had lots of people to help us with our bags. It is always so great to see the pink panther safe and in one piece after a long journey!! We were then escorted out to the buses that would take us to our hotels. Our hotel was the Holiday Villa. It was an amazing hotel and we had a great room! After dropping off our bags in the rooms we headed to have some dinner, which is provided for us. The food was incredible! They had a lot of different options to choose from and the staff were always right there to assist you! The desserts were awesome too :) 

        After dinner my mom, team Bermuda’s leader, headed to the final DRM meeting to collect our accreditations and take care of all the paperwork. I am truly grateful to BHS for allowing my mom to take time off of work so she can come a long with us. Thanks mom for all that you do so I can continue to chase my dreams!
 
          The next day (Oct 20th) we headed to the track bright and early to get a practice in and to flush out the stiffness from traveling the previous day. It also gave me a chance to see what the temperature was like and get a feel of the track. Man was it hot! I was very glad to have brought my water bottle that has a mister on it... it definitely came in handy! After the practice I stored the pink panther in the storage area at the track. There was tons of people there to help us with our chairs and would actually carry them for us to the track when we came to pick them up! We headed back to the hotel for lunch and a bit of a rest and then Ken and I headed back to the track that evening to get another practice in. Since most of my races were at night we wanted to see if there was a difference of pushing there in the morning and at night when the sun went down. There was a difference, don’t get me wrong temperatures were still in the 90’s, but the sun wasn’t beating down on you. So it was quite comfortable compared to the morning! Ken then headed to the coach’s meeting. My mom went to the practice for the opening ceremony, which would take place the next day (Oct 21st). Ken and I didn’t attend the ceremony as it would have been a late night for me and I had my first race the next morning. On the morning of Oct 21st, the day before my first race, we headed to the track again in the morning to do a pre-race workout (light jog and some starts). I was actually able to get onto the competition track for a couple of laps, which doesn’t happen very often at big competitions.

          Oct 22nd finally came around and it was finally time to start racing! We headed to the track bright and early as I had my 200m semi-final. For each of my races we had two heats of athletes, which meant in order to qualify for the final, you had to be top 3 in your heat or be one of the next 2 fastest times to make up the 8 athletes. I finished 2nd in my heat, which qualified me. I was definitely nervous about going to the final but was very excited about it as I had just missed the final in Lyon in 2013 at my first World Championships. I finished 4th and felt absolutely incredible! I was racing against the best athletes in the world in the T53 class and I was right up there with them :) 
 
          Every race we go into my coach and I establish goals we want to achieve (i.e. be the first off the line, hit a certain speed) in the race. During the warm up I was only hitting a max speed of 27.9k so the goal was to hit a speed of 28.5k during the race. I hit it right on the dot! I laughed when I saw it as I was heading off the track to go meet my coach and couldn’t wait to tell him.
 
          The next day (Oct 23rd) was my 100m semi-final at night. My favorite event! I had a really good warm up and felt really confident going into the race. We had to be in the call room 45 minutes before our scheduled race time. As the call room’s were air conditioned our push rims would get wet when we came out of the call room into the heat, which I had found out going into my 200m semi-final the previous day. So I started bringing a hand towel with me so I could wipe off my gloves and rims so I wouldn’t slip during the races. I crossed the line first in my semi-final, which automatically qualified me for the final. As I crossed the line and hit my compensator (the steering to go around the bends of the track) the spring broke. So, it was off to Ottobock (hospital for equipment) for the Pink Panther! Fortunately, it was a quick fix! Thanks Ottobock team!!

          That night I tossed and turned as my nerves were starting for the 100m final that would happen the next day (Oct 24th). I had a talk with my coach the morning of the race and he was able to calm me down and help me stay focused! Thanks Ken! J We got to the track 2 hours before the race and I got in the chair right away to make sure the compensator was working properly. Luckily it was! I then got out for a bit and got back in closer to my call time. Austin, one of the guys I train with, was there representing Canada and was very nice to come out and push with me during my warm up and to do some starts with me. I am very lucky to have the teammates I do and I truly appreciate them. After every lap I did and start I felt more and more confident, strong and powerful. When it came to call time I was so ready to get in there and push the 100m race I knew I was capable of pushing. It was a tough race and it was funny, I actually didn’t know I got third until one of the other racers said congratulations and I saw my name on the scoreboard on the field inside the track. It was definitely an amazing feeling! I am so proud to bring home Bermuda’s first IPC Athletics World Championship medal. Going up on the podium and watching the Bermuda flag rise is a feeling that is really hard to describe.

         After that, I had to put all those emotions aside and prepare for the 400m semi-final taking place the next morning (Oct 25th). This is not my strongest race…yet! J I missed going to the final by .42 of a second but was still so ecstatic. I am so grateful that I get to compete against these incredible athletes and am looking forward to many more races with them in the future. The next day (Oct 26th) was my 800m final. Again, not my strongest race…yet! Looking at the field of athletes I was up against, realistically, it would have been very tough for me to make finals. So, what did we do? We set goals! The goal for this race was to see if I could get into “the pack”, even if I burn out getting into it, as all the other 800m races I have done I always just miss getting into it. I pushed as hard and as fast as I could and I managed to get into the pack. It was such an awesome experience. We practice drafting in training but it is definitely a different experience in a race setting. I held in with the pack for about 200m and then fell back, but crossed the finish line to a 2 ½ second PB. That was the best 800m race I have ever done, not just time wise, but technique wise and getting into the pack. I didn’t make the final so that ended my participation in my second World Championships.

​          So, how can I sum up the 2015 racing season? Well…the pink panther and I have had the most incredible time. I have had the best races of my sporting career so far and to say I am ending it with my, and Bermuda’s, first ParaPan American Games medal and IPC Athletics World Championship medal around my neck is truly amazing! I am so grateful to have this amazing experience and I am looking forward to many more races in the future. 

​          Thank you so much to you all for coming along with me on this incredible journey! I honestly have the best support team and truly appreciate all of your support and encouragement. Thank you to my family for giving me this opportunity and supporting me every step of the way. Thank you to BHS for allowing my mom to take time off work to join me. Thank you to my teammates who motivate me and push me to get better. Thank you to my coach Ken for everything you do for me on and off the track and seeing the potential in me and believing in me. Thank you to the press in Bermuda for all their coverage (I think some of the articles were up before I was even off the track!) And thank you to my sponsors Tokio Millennium Re for believing in me and helping me continue to race. As well as the staff for raising the funds for the Pink Panther!
 
          I have had an absolute blast competing this year and I am so ready to train harder and get ready for 2016 – a Paralympic year!! As my dad says its time for “operation bigger, faster and stronger!” 
 
A truly grateful athlete and her chair,
Jessica and the Pink Panther
 
- Desire, Dream, Vision -
 

To say that the past few weeks after ParaPan American Games have been a whirlwind would be putting it to simple. I am so grateful and lucky to have received the amount of support I have and I honestly have the best support team ever!!

While I was home in Bermuda at the end of August before returning to Brock to start my fifth year my amazing cousin Douglas and the rest of the incredible staff at RED steakhouse hosted a fundraiser for me to help me get to World Championships in October. We called it my “Gold Medal Gala!” My coach Ken came down to Bermuda for the weekend as well, which was great to have him there! It was a fantastic night and I am so thankful to Douglas and RED for supporting me and putting that on for me!! Also, thanks to everyone that came out to it to support me or still supported me if they couldn’t attend. I was certainly overwhelmed (in a good way :)) with the amount of support I received that night and the past couple of weeks. 

Here is the speech I gave that night:

“Good evening everyone and thank you so much for coming out tonight. I feel very lucky to be able to sit in this room and look around at everyone here supporting me and this crazy amazing and wonderful journey I am on. It all started in 2006 when WindReach Bermuda held a sports expo and brought down athletes and coaches from the states and Canada. This was the first time I met my incredible Coach Ken Thom and his son Curtis when they introduced me to track racing. I still remember the first time I was in a track chair. After 1 lap I was completely exhausted and had no idea that that moment would lead me to 9 years later sitting here being a Paralympian, ParaPan American Games Gold Medalist and games record holder.

At that point in time I was still participating in many other different sports like swimming, horseback riding, basketball and tennis so wasn’t really concentrating on track. I would still take part in it but mainly for recreation. It wasn’t until 2008 when the Bermuda Paralympic Association sent me and 2 others to Beijing to be spectators at the 2008 Paralympic Games that I wanted to pick one sport and concentrate on it and get to a Paralympic Games. I decided on track mainly because it was an individual sport so I could represent Bermuda and because I liked the speed!! Sitting in the stands in Beijing I knew that I wanted to be in London but down on the track not sitting in the stands. I ended up getting my own chair in 2010, which my grandparents otherwise known as super bragging granny and my number 1 fan poppy bought for me. Since I was still in high school, I would travel to Canada on my school breaks to train with Ken and while I was home Gerry Swan was amazing enough to step up to the challenge to coach me and work alongside Ken.

I still remember the first time I trained in Ken’s garage and I thought holy crap this is insane!! I definitely found out why the other athletes called it Ken’s hells garage!! My first race was in Tampa, Florida in 2010 at the Dixie Games. I was so nervous, excited and happy to be out on the track to see how I kept up with the other athletes…needless to say they blew me away but I was still so excited to be out there. From that point I was even more determined to work hard in this sport and put everything I have into it. When I started Brock university in 2011 I started training under Ken full time. I train at Brock during the week lifting weights in the gym 3 days a week. I also have a roller in my residence where I train in my track chair. On Fridays I travel 1.5 hours to Ken’s house to train with him and his other athletes, Curtis, Mike, Isaiah and Austin on Saturday and Sunday. When I started at Brock I got a tour of the gym and information about getting a personal trainer from a guy named Scott Frendo-Cumbo, a trainer at the gym. After the tour Scott specifically asked his manager to be my trainer. He was my trainer for my first two years at Brock and then Chris Anderi, who was equally as awesome, was my trainer for the next two years. They have both graduated now so I will be getting a new trainer this year.

Qualifying for and competing in the London 2012 Paralympic Games was an amazing experience. I qualified in the 200m event first at the desert challenge games in Arizona and finding out about it I could remember me sitting in the bird’s nest stadium in Beijing 4 years prior saying I was going to be in London and I had done it. I actually qualified for the 100 meters for London on the warm up track we used for Parapan am!

After London I continued training and traveling to different competitions around the world. I was steadily improving and it came to a point at the end of last year that we started to discuss getting me a new track chair with new seating mainly going from an upholstery seat to a hard panel because I was able to add more power to each of my strokes. I was loosing some power because I would move in my seat whereas in a hard panel I don’t move. The incredible staff of Tokio Millennium Re, my amazing

sponsor for the past 2 years, raised the money to buy me a new track chair and I thank them so much for that and for believing in me. This began the 2015 racing season and the era of the “Pink Panter” which is what I have named the chair!! This racing season has been absolutely incredible and I am now running with the big names in my classification and have got a lot of people talking about me. I am no longer just the little one from Bermuda - I am now the little one from Bermuda who is competition. I am still working on the longer distances but have certainly put my name out there for the sprints. My coach and I have decided to focus on establishing dominance in the 100m and 200m races this year with the 400m and 800m races being my bonus ones and working at those this off season to improve for next racing season. We plan to work and work the plan, right coach?!

Heading into the 100m final at the ParaPan American games knowing I was going into it with the fastest time gave me so much confidence and all I could focus on was having the fast start I have been having all racing season, the 20m mark where coach Ken and I decided we wanted the race to be over by and the finish line and having the desire to come across it first. We had a false start gun go off and it was definitely nerve racking to see who would be charged with a false start, well for my coach and family that is, I was confident it wasn’t me!! I think Ken’s mouth definitely got a workout from chewing on his gum so much because of the nerves!! It turned out that nobody was charged with a false start so we were all safe to be in the race still. We had to shake that off and the extra nerves that came along with it. As the race started again I just focused on pushing as hard and as fast as I could and as I crossed that 20m mark I was ahead so I just put my head down and powered to the finish line. I know that even though Poppy wasn't there physically in the stands yelling go jessicer he was there in spirit sitting on my shoulders with his London 2012 Paralympic Games hat on and his stopwatch in his hand. It was an incredible feeling to know that I had not only won the Gold but got the ParaPan American Games 100m record, which was previously held by the mentor Anjali Forber-Pratt. It is a true honor to have the record after her. It was also amazing to know that this was the first medal won by a para-athlete in Bermuda. I feel very honored to be able to do that for Bermuda.

Now I refocus and look forward to heading to my last competition in the 2015 racing season, World Championships, in Qatar in October. Winning the gold medal at the ParaPan Am games gives me so much confidence and belief in myself going into worlds and I can’t wait to continue this success right to the end of this incredible season. I am looking forward to ending this season on a high note so that I can go into the 2016 year with even more determination to take me right to the 2016 Rio Paralympics in September, where I have achieved the A qualifying standard in the 100 and 400 and the B in the 800.

So, thank you to my coach Ken for all that he does for me on and off the track, his family for accepting me as part of theirs, my family for all their support and encouragement and for being at the games to witness my races, my cousin Douglas part owner of Red for wanting to do and planning this night for me, my friends for all their support, my teammates for pushing me to get better and better and supporting me, WindReach for getting me involved in sports, Bermuda Paralympic Association for all their support and encouragement especially Ann and Jeni for staying on top of all the emails sent by the IPC, Scott and Chris for meeting me 3 days a week in the gym religiously, Earl Basden for his amazing loyal support and news coverage to help get awareness of para-sport out to Bermuda, to BHS for allowing my mom to take time off work so she can travel with me, my incredible sponsors Tokio Millennium Re for helping me chase my dreams and the staff at Tokio Millennium Re for raising the funds for the pink panther, and to all of you here tonight and the rest of my support team for coming along with me on this journey! I couldn’t do this without you! This is just the beginning!! Thank you!!”

My coach also spoke at the event about what it takes to be an elite athlete. His presentation was fantastic and really opened up a lot of eyes about the amount of work that goes into being an elite level athlete.

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - 

I've been trying to think of how I can put my experience of representing Bermuda at the Toronto 2015 ParaPan American Games and brining home a gold medal and a ParaPan Am Games record in the 100m into words. Well, I've decided this is how...

It was the most incredible, emotionally filled, nerve-racking, prideful, rollercoaster of an experience!! And that doesn't just describe how I feel in regards to my competition but also to watching Yushae and Steve compete at their first major event and having my family and friends there to support me!

We moved into the athletes village on August 2nd after having our final meeting with the incredible staff of Toronto 2015 to finalize things such as our events, the accommodations we would need in the village and checking all our accreditations ect. Mom (Team Bermuda's Chef de Mission aka team leader aka the big cheese!!) and I moved in first as the Chef has to be in the village before the rest of the team can arrive. Steve, his caregiver Milton, Yushae, her mom Ashanti, and Troy the Boccia coach joined us later that evening. Annabel our doctor, Sara who is on the Boccia Bermuda board, and Ann and Jeni who are the president and vice president of the Bermuda Paralympic Association joined us on the 6th. My coach Ken joined us later that week after his business trip to Miami. It was so wonderful to have such a big team at this event!! My family and friends also joined us at different times that week (a huge thank you goes out to Sheryl and her daughter Katie, my mom's college roommate, for driving from Boston to come support me)!

The athletes village was great! It was a lot smaller and compact than London's was so it was easy to find everything. The village had the accommodations, a poly-clinic, a games room, a gym with a pool, track and weight room, offices, an internet café, a dining tent, a plaza with a ticket booth, a Loblaws, a hair and nail salon, a café, a portable post office, a merchandise store and a display of all the 28 countries flags! As well as a couple of "small" chairs located around!!!

As we were in the village a couple of days before it started we used that time to get acquainted with the village, the transportation (my mom got a car for the games as she was the chef but there was also transport buses to the different venues), training, and meeting our wonderful NPC Bermuda assistants Jeff, Dan and Julie. I can't thank them enough for all they did for our team!!!

On August 6th we had our countries Welcoming Ceremony. This is a short ceremony held in the village where the countries flag is raised and is officially welcomed to the competition. We had our ceremony with Jamaica and Brazil! The next day was the Opening Ceremony. We had to get on a bus at 3:30 all dressed in our Bermuda shorts and blazers to head to York University where the ceremony was taking place, which was about 45 minutes away. Since there was so many athletes to transport they had to start loading early. To get to the stadium we had police escorts on motorcycles stopping traffic for all the buses (we were in bus 18 of 25 in a convoy, which was only the first group!!) It was an incredible operation to watch and our bus drivers didn't even have to brake once. We sailed right through all of the highways! Once we got there we hung out with all the countries as they arrived and were offered entertainment, food and drinks. The ceremony started at 7 and we were all ushered into parade order about 6.

Yushae was Bermuda's flag bearer and she did it with so much joy and pride, which was definitely amazing to see. After the parade of athletes the show lasted about 2 hours and the games were officially opened with the lighting of the ParaPan Am torch and the raising of the America's Paralympic Committee's flag.

The competition schedule for our team worked out well with having Yushae and Steve competing on the 9th and 10th and myself competing on the 12th-14th. So, we were able to attend each other's events and support each other. Yushae and Steve played their games with such determination and passion and it was a true honor to be a witness. They had the whole team on the edge of their seats the entire matches and I could not be more prouder of them and what they accomplished! They were incredible and I can't wait to watch them improve even more and go further in Boccia.

My teammate, Isaiah, competed in the 100m race on the 10th (representing Canada) and it was great to watch him compete. Unfortunately, he had to race in the rain but he still put on an amazing performance and I am so proud of him. He is a great friend and teammate and was so nice to come out to the track the next few days to help me get ready for my races so I didn't have to train alone!

I had the 400m and 100m semi final on the 12th. Since there was 9 athletes in the two events we had two heats. In order to qualify for the finals you had to be in the top 3 of your heat and then the next 2 fastest times made up the 8 people for the final. I was 2nd in my heat for the 400m and clocked the third fastest time overall and I came first in my heat in the 100m with the fastest time of 16.85, which is a PB for me! But unfortunately it did not count for the ParaPan Am record as the tailwind was too strong to be a legal time. But that only gave me more confidence and motivation to get that record in the 100m final. Also, the fact that my mentor Anjali was the previous record holder. It is a true honor to have taken it from her (with her blessing of course!! :))

August 13th, 2015 will be a day that I will never forget! I had the 800m final in the early afternoon and the 100m final in the early evening. I wasn't too thrilled with my 800m race but after talking with my coach Ken he was able to help me put it into perspective and point out the positives and to refocus for the 100m race. This year we are focusing mainly on my 100m and 200m and will work through the off season training on getting me stronger and more powerful for the longer races. I warmed up for the 100m by doing laps varying my speed and doing a couple of practice starts. Every push I did I became more confident in myself and just wanted to get out on that track and do what I have been doing all racing season. On the start line all I could think about was my technique, the 20m mark (which is the line my coach and I discussed about where we wanted the race to be over by, meaning I was ahead at that point), the finish line and having that desire to cross it first. The starter said on your marks, I took a deep breathe, then set and the gun went. I started pushing as hard as I could and then the gun went off a second, third and fourth time meaning there was a false start and we had to return to the start line to start the race again. It was pretty nerve racking to find out who false started (even though I was confident it wasn't me because in racing if you have a false start you are out of the race). But it ended up being no charge, so I'm not sure what happened. We then had to shake that off and start the race again, this time with a clean start. I pushed down on the wheels as hard and as fast as I could and I didn't stop until I crossed that line and I couldn't believe I had done it...I had won gold and set the new ParaPan Am Games record. It was so surreal!!

Going up on the podium to receive the medal and to watch the Bermuda flag being raised was the most moving and prideful moment I think I have ever experienced. All of my hard work and dedication was in that shiny gold medal around my neck and my family and friends were in the stands witnessing it. All I could think about was my biggest fan in heaven, my grandfather. But I knew that he was right there with us all with his London Paralympics hat and stop watch sitting on my shoulders beaming from ear to ear. This medal is not only for Bermuda...it is for you Grampy!

After that night full of so much emotion I had to refocus and get ready for my 400m final the next day. I was definitely very confident for that race but was physically drained from all the emotions and adrenaline the previous day. So, didn't push my best but still had an incredible time (and was only 1 second off my PB for that event) and I congratulate all the other racers at the games who did a phenomenal job. I am so grateful to be surrounded by and get to compete with an amazing group of athletes.

We then had the closing ceremonies on the 15th where Steve got to carry the flag and he did it with just as much ride and Yushae. As the games came to a close and I watched the flame go out I was truly grateful for this amazing experience. We checked out of the village and I returned home yesterday (August 17th) to an incredible welcome by Senator Jeff Baron, many people from the press, Bermuda's town crier and family and friends. Thank you Bermuda for all your support during this exciting time!! As well as all of the incredible people who have supported me along this amazing journey...especially my family and friends. To my coach Ken for all he does, to my weight trainers Chris and Scott, to my amazing teammates, to the volunteers and organizers of the games (especially Dianne, Jeff, Dan and Julie), to the press in Bermuda, St. Catherines, and Brock University...thank you, thank you, thank you!! I honestly couldn't do it without all of your support!

Now it's time to enjoy some time at home with family and friends and then return to Canada to start my fifth year at Brock and get ready for World Championships in October in Doha, Qatar. This is just the beginning!!!

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision -

The excitement for the ParaPan American Games is certainly building for me, and the rest of Team Bermuda. I have been watching the Pan Am games everyday and keeping up to date on the amazing athletes from Bermuda. It is a truly amazing experience to watch the games and to see all the venues and to realize that in just a couple of weeks myself and two other athletes will be gearing up to compete and continue to represent Bermuda. 

I would like to mention the two other athletes that I will be joining at the games, Yushae DeSilva-Andrade and Steve Wilson, who will be competing in Boccia. Unfortunately, these two incredible athletes were left out of a newspaper report about the athletes that will be representing Bermuda at both the Pan Am and ParaPan Am Games. These two have worked incredibly hard to get to where they are today and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They definitely deserve all the recognition in the world for their determination and hard work. I met them a couple of years ago and I have seen first hand their improvement in their sport. I am honoured that I will get to be alongside these two at the games and I cannot wait to watch them in action.

It is very exciting for me to see para-sport growing in Bermuda. In 2011 when I was the first Bermudian to compete at a ParaPan American Games in Guadalajara I was the only athlete there. It is amazing to see that 4 years later we have two other athletes. My goal is to bring awareness about para-sport in Bermuda and show that we work just as hard as able-bodied athletes, we have the same determination and passion and deserve to be recognized. I want to change the way people with disabilities are viewed and to bring about total equality and I feel the best way I can do that is through my sport and through bringing awareness, which will promote understanding and acceptance.

I have had a very successful racing season this year and I cannot wait to compete on the America’s stage next month. On the weekend the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) were posting “Collectors Cards” on their Facebook page, which features some athletes that will be representing their countries at the Toronto 2015 games. As of right now only 3 have been made and I am truly honored that I have been featured on one of them! It is incredibly humbling to know that the IPC recognizes me.

I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to my mom, Lorri Lewis, who is our Chef de Mission for the games. The amount of work that goes into organizing a team to compete at a big competition is incredible. I am truly thankful to her for all the work she is putting in so that Yushae, Steve and myself will be able to do what we love and represent the country we love.

Again, thank you to you all for all your continued support and encouragement. To get daily updates on my journey feel free to also follow it on:
          Facebook: Jessica Lewis (Para-athlete)
          Twitter: @Trackgirl_Lewis
          Instagram: @Jesslewisparalympian
These are the places that I will mainly do my updates during the games and will write a blog at the completion of it all when I will have some down time to really sit down and write fully about the experience. The games will be taking place from August 7-15, with my races being August 12, 13 and 14 sometime between 3pm-9pm. The schedule that is out now may change depending on the amount of athletes in my classification (i.e. whether we have prelims or just finals) and will hopefully get more information about the exact time of my races closer to the date. 

As for now its time to focus and get ready!!

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - 

The life of an athlete is certainly an exciting one. The past 10 days have been a whirlwind including 3 competitions in two different places. We left Toronto on Friday June 26th and headed to Indianapolis for the weekend to compete in the Indy Invitational and the Fast Cow competitions. These competitions are hosted by the athletes and coaches from the University of Illinois and the name Fast Cow came from their mascot being a cow! When we arrived in Indianapolis it was pouring. We originally had booked a truck but it didn't have a cover over the back so we switched to a minivan to avoid all of our stuff (mainly our chairs) from getting soaked. We had to pack in the minivan 3 racing chairs, 3 day chairs, 2 wheel bags, 1 wheel box, 2 large suitcases, 2 small suitcases, 4 backpacks, and 5 people!! Needless to say it was a bit crowded!! (As you can see in the picture below my hand!) 

The Indy Invitational took place on Saturday and included a morning and an evening session. We were very lucky with the weather as the forecast had said we would be getting thunderstorms but it held off! Since there was two racing sessions on the same day I just decided to take part in 3 events (100m, 200m, & 400m) since I would have to do those events twice in the same day. During the morning session I achieved a PB in the 400m event with a time of 1:00.79 and then broke that in the evening session with a time of 1:00.52! I am super excited that I am inching my way closer to breaking 1 minute! 

The Fast Cow track meet took place on Sunday and just had an evening session. At this competition I decided to just take part in the 100m and 800m event since I had done the 6 races the previous day. I continued the success from the previous day and ended up placing 1st in my classification (T53) and 2nd overall (including T53 and T54 racers) in the 100m event and achieved a new PB in the 800m race leading from start to finish! 

We left Indianapolis on Monday and headed back to Toronto to connect onto Edmonton where the Canadian Track and Field Championships were taking place. I am very grateful to the amazing organizers, coaches and athletes who allow me to compete at this event as it is specifically for canadian athletes as it is their nationals! But since my coach is Canadian and I train with some other Canadian racers they allow me to join in. I was the only international racer at this competition. This competition also includes able-bodied athletes so the event goes over 4 days to fit everyone in. I took part in the 100m, 200m and 800m races (we decided not to take part in the 400m so we could leave a day earlier). 

My grandmother and aunty Karen came up to Edmonton from Bermuda to cheer me on and it was certainly great to see them. My cousins (who live in Edmonton and Calgary) also came to cheer me on which was great to see them as well. My aunty Karen says that she is my biggest cheerleader and always writes me a song to wish me luck at the competitions she comes too. I think this one was her best one yet as she wrote the words to match the music of "Let it go" from Frozen. The song is:

"Jessica gets ready at the start line tonight
She is faster in her new chair
You’ve worked so hard and it look like, you’re finally there
Our excitement is howling like a swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, Heaven knows we try
Don’t let them in, go let them see
Be the fast girl you always wanted to be
You blew them away and now they know 
Well now they know
Here she comes, here she comes
We can’t hold her back any more
Here she comes, here she comes
Turn your back, you won’t see her any more
We don’t care what they’re going to say
Let the races roll on
The wind never bothered her anyway.
It’s funny how the 800 distance,
Seemed like she’d hit a wall,
And the fears that once controlled her, can’t get to her at all
It’s time to show what she can do.
To test her limits and break through
Go fast turn left are the rules for me.
She’s free
Here she goes, here she goes
She is one with the wind and the sky
There she goes, there she goes
So fast she can’t see us cry
And here she is,  And here she’ll stay
Let the races rage on
Her power pushes through the wheels going toward the ground
Her eagle span arms pushing around and all around
And with each race She is having a total blast
She’s never going back, the past is in the past
Let it go, let it go
We know Hooksie is holding on for the ride
Let it go, let it go
Cross the line and give a high five
Ken is so pleased of you in every way
Let the races rage on
We are so proud of you every day"

Now I have a few rest days and then it is back into training for the ParaPan American Games which I just got confirmation I will be representing Bermuda at. Along with 2 boccia players Yushae and Steve! 

That's all for now!

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - 

The second and third meet in Switzerland were even more successful for me than the first competition!! Throughout the 2 weeks we were there I achieved 8 new personal best times, qualification for the Toronto 2015 ParaPan American Games and A qualifying standards for World Championships in all 4 of my events and I couldn't be more happy! Bermuda is on the map!! Due to how well the races went for me in Switzerland I have opted out of going to Sherbrooke Quebec to compete in the Ian Hume competition this weekend to recuperate. 

My next competition will be on June 21st in Brampton Ontario at the Cruisers Track Classic. I will be competing in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 5K races (normally I don't compete in a 5K but my teammates and I made a deal with another racer that we would join him in it if he came out to our practices so we could work on drafting more! :)) We will then head to Indianapolis at the end of the month for 2 competitions and then will head straight to Edmonton from there to compete in Canadian Nationals. After those competitions I will have a couple of weeks to just focus on training and resting my body to prepare for the ParaPan American Games, which will take place August 7th-15th. I will be racing on the 12th, 13th, and 14th. It is very exciting because we will have 3 para-athletes competing at the ParaPan American Games this year!! Yushae and Steve have both qualified for the games as well but in Boccie ball and I am so proud of them! It will be great to have a bigger team!! It is very exciting to see para sports growing in Bermuda! 

I couldn't be more thrilled and proud of how well the 2015 racing season has gone so far. It is such an amazing and humbling experience to see the results from all of my hard work. My coach Ken is an amazing person and I could never say thank you enough to him for believing in me and pushing me and getting me to where I am now and will be in the future!! 

We received an email while in Switzerland from the IPC (International Paralympic Association) with the very exciting news that the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games qualification standards should be released any day now!! The qualifying period began in January this year and will go until June or July of next year (this is the time frame we have to achieve the required times in the events in order to compete at the games). So, that means the times I achieved in Switzerland can be used towards Rio and I am so excited to see how they match up with the standards!!!! 

That's all for now! :) 

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - 

Let's see how do I explain my participation in the 2015 IPC Grand Prix in Nottwil Switzerland on the weekend...how about...4 events, 4 PB'S, 3 A and 1 B qualifying standards for World Championships!!! I'd say it was a pretty great weekend!! :) 

I can't even begin to describe the overwhelming feeling of pride and accomplishment I felt after every race I was in. I have worked so hard and have completely dedicated myself, which involved many sacrifices, and this weekend I saw the results! It truly shows that if you put in a lot of hard work and dedication you can turn all your dreams into a reality!  

This competition was the first one I have done in my new track chair (named Pink Panther :)) and I must say it has done good for its debut!! I would like to thank the staff at Tokio Millennium Re for purchasing my chair. As well as thank my coach Ken for everything he does for me on a daily basis on and off the track and my family and friends for all their support and encouragement...Jessica has arrived and is only going to get bigger and stronger!! 

Above is a picture that was taken after I won my 800m heat, where I achieved a 9 second PB, which perfectly sums up my feeling about the competition! 

We left Nottwil today and arrived in Arbon, where the last 2 competitions will be taking place here in Switzerland. I will be competing in the 100m, 200m and 400m races on Thursday (June 4) and then the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m races on the weekend (June 6&7). We will then fly back to Canada on June 8th!

Here is to even faster races and more success!! 

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - 

Last week my coach, my mom, my teammates and myself attended the Cruisers Award Gala. (Cruisers is a sports organization in Canada that I am a member of) Each year awards are given out to athletes in the different sports that the organization offers (track & field, sledge hockey, basketball and multi-sport). This year the track award has been renamed to the Chelsea Clark Award to honour Chelsea Clark who competed at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games winning 2 gold medals and setting a world record, who sadly passed away this year. I trained with Chelsea for a couple of years right when I started racing and so it was a privilege for me to receive this award this year! 

We arrived in Switzerland on Tuesday morning after an 8.5 hour flight. We gathered all of our luggage and equipment, along with the other 18 athletes on our flight, and headed out to the buses for the 1.5 hour ride to our hotel in Nottwil. Once we arrived we headed to lunch and tried to stay awake for the rest of the day to get used to the time change!! Yesterday we did two practices to get a feel of the track and today we just did a light practice (mainly starts) to prepare for our first competition of three while in Switzerland, the IPC Grand Prix! Up first is the 400m tomorrow night (Friday), the 800m & 100m on Saturday and the 200m on Sunday! We will then load up on a bus on Monday and head to Arbon to compete in the other two competitions on June 4th and June 6th & 7th! 

These races will be the first ones I have done in my new chair so here is to fast races!! 😊

Jessica

-Desire, Dream, Vision- 

In my previous blog I shared the speech I wrote and presented to the students at my old high school, BHS. Every word in that speech came from my heart and explains exactly how I feel and view the world. My hopes for that speech is for it to reach someone who doesn't feel comfortable in their skin and to help them realize that it is ok to be different and for them to feel comfortable with who they are and to show that. Having a disability has taught me a lot of things in life and I want to be able to use that to help others to conquer their life and to develop as a person because everybody has the potential to bring greatness into this world and to touch the lives of other people. 

Having a disability has taught me how to be strong and persevere because it has thrown me a lot of challenging times and challenges on a daily basis that I needed and need to conquer in order to live my life. It has taught me how to be grateful for everything that I have. It has taught me to accept differences. It has taught me how to have confidence. It has taught me how to discover the world in new ways. It has taught me how to explore different ways of doing things. But most importantly it has taught me that it is ok to be different and to be who you were born to be. 

I just want to be able to show the world and people that being yourself is ok and to ignore the people or things that are trying to stop you from doing that. Even if what I have to say makes a difference in just one person's life I will be happy to know they are embracing themselves and are proud of who they are! 

I understand it can be a hard process and a long journey to achieving that sometimes. I went through a time where I didn't want to be myself and accept my disability too. But coming through that has been the most important thing in the world for my happiness and life. You don't have to go through that alone either because there will always be people in your life that will love you and accept you for who you are and will help you to fully embrace that even if you have to go out and look for them!

If you take anything away from my blogs I want it to be that you shouldn't be afraid to be who you are or be afraid to be different. Live your life being you because this is what life has given you and differences are what makes the world go around.

Be proud. Be confident. Be happy

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - 

Now that the school year is done for me I am training completely full time. This week I did a comparison between my old track chair and my new one and I am pleased to say that I am able to go a bit faster in my new chair! Since the panel that I rest my knees on is a hard panel now instead of an upholstery one all the power I am generating into the wheels is actually going into the wheel because I don't have the give the upholstery panel gave me before. So I have fully transitioned to using the new chair. It is definitely a bitter sweet feeling as I have gone through a lot in the old chair. But I know that there will be many more adventures in the new chair. The countdown is on now for the first race. We will no longer be doing Desert Challenge this year, which is the race in Arizona I have competed at for the past four years (it is also the race where I qualified for the 200m race for the London Paralympics!!). So the first races will be taking place in Switzerland. We leave on May 25th and will be competing in 3 different events over there, 1 in Nottwil and 2 in Arbon (on the fastest track in the world!). I am really looking forward to getting back into the racing season to put all my training to use! I am also really looking forward to seeing how I do in my new chair. I am truly grateful to the staff at Tokio Millennium Re for raising the funds for me to be able to purchase the new chair! I love it and am forever thankful for the opportunities and help Tokio is giving me to continue training, racing and chasing my dreams. I will be going back to Bermuda on April 30th until May 6th to spend some time at home before I start competing. Since it is a busy year race wise I am taking this opportunity to go home for a bit since I probably won't be able to go home again until the end of August. While home I have been asked to speak to the students at the Bermuda High School and am really looking forward to that! I will be talking about embracing yourself and through that being able to handle any situation life hands you! As well as advocating for people with different abilities and how everybody should be accepted for who they are!

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision - 

As another year at Brock University is winding down for me I am so grateful to have had another amazing year where I met some more incredible people and continued on my journey to becoming a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS). I will be completing my fourth year of study this year and will have 2 more years left to get my undergraduate degree as I am taking a light course load to balance school and training. As I put more time into this I know that I am definitely in the right career path. Being able to work with people and help them is something that I can't wait for. Being a CTRS is going to be an experience that I can bring first hand experience to as I know the amazing benefits that leisure and recreation can bring to people with different abilities as it has helped me so much. Also, advocating for people of different abilities is something that I am truly passionate about. I can't wait to empower these incredible groups of people to embrace themselves, to love themselves and show them they can do anything they want and their "disability" doesn't define who they are and isn't a limitation. In classes we always discuss looking at the person and focusing on their abilities and that is something I aim to do and advocate for. Just because people have disabilities doesn't mean they don't have incredible abilities to show the world! If we all focus on our strengths and the strengths of other individuals the world would be a much more positive place and every individual would feel accepted for who they are and what they are able to bring to the world!

I am a big fan of quotes and the two that stand out to me when I think about "disabilities" are:

1) "The only disability in life is a bad attitude!"
AND
2) "I choose to not put DIS in front of my ABILITIES" 

As a society we need to move away from viewing individuals who have a disability as a personal tragedy and focus on the person and realize it is not a tragedy. It is just something that the person deals with just like everybody else has something to deal with in life. It is something that the person is able to use to bring a different perspective of the world and bring different abilities and strengths into the world! To end the blog I will repeat myself "I choose to not put DIS in front of my ABILITIES" :) 

Jessica

- Desire, Dream, Vision -