Determination Led Abby Gase To Open the Door for Adaptive Swimming in Ohio
Abby Gase rolled up to the blocks before the 100 backstroke. She looked at the other adaptive swimmers on either side of her and smiled, knowing she had helped change history. For the first time in Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) swimming history, a wheelchair, along with other adaptive equipment, appeared on the pool deck in February at the 2021 Ohio High School State Swimming Championships.
Gase, a senior at Otsego High School, was first diagnosed, at the age of four, with Transverse Myelitis (TM) after it was noted that she was having frequent falls at preschool for no apparent reason.
“TM is a rare autoimmune disorder that affects the spinal cord,” Gase said. “I have no use of my left leg and about 60% use of my right leg, so I walk with crutches or use a wheelchair. In swimming, I cannot kick at all with either leg. My left leg kind of floats wherever it wants since I have no control over it. I also get very little push off from a turn.”
An accomplished Para swimmer who has competed in national and international level competitions, along with winning five medals at the 2019 Para Pan American Games, Gase wanted more for her high school swimming career other than just participating in area and sectional meets with no hopes of attending state championships.
“My high school season would end at sectionals and I would watch as my teammates and friends trained for districts and state,” Gase said. “I knew that other Para swimmers around the country were able to swim at their state meets. I had competed in the Ohio state track meet in the adaptive category. I figured if the state track meet had an adaptive category, why not also add swimming, too?”
The feeling of equality in both sports fueled Gase to contact the Ohio High School Athletics Association. At the beginning of her sophomore year, she began her campaign by sending numerous emails to the OHSAA, and she also recruited her coach, Carolyn Strunk, to help as well. The two contacted anybody and everybody they could possibly think of to petition the idea of adding adaptive athletes to the state swim meet.
“I started by just sending letters and emails to the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) about the idea of adding it (adaptive swimming) in,” Gase said. “After a little while, my coach, Carolyn, also started contacting people she knew. From there we just kept sending emails back and forth.”
Photo Courtesy: Abby Gase
Their hard work and perseverance paid off. The OHSAA ultimately decided that adaptive swimmers could swim the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke at the 2021 Ohio State Swimming Championships. The adaptive swimmers’ heat was added as another heat at the state meet. Even though they may have a disability, these swimmers were now recognized competitors, too, and they were there to race as determination has no bounds.
Gase proudly said: “There were seven girls and five boys competing in the Para events this year. I was surprised and excited to see how many other swimmers got to swim at state.”
Coach Strunk felt that it was great to have so many adaptive athletes compete at the Ohio State Championships, knowing that Gase’s effort had come to fruition after three years of working with the OHSAA board. The smile on Gase’s face, and her parents’, exemplified their knowledge that they had helped lead the way for adaptive athletes to compete with their able-bodied peers.
“For these (adaptive) athletes to get to experience it (the state meet) was something that I know, at least for Abby, was pretty special for her senior year,” Strunk said. “Abby has had the opportunity to travel internationally to compete (for Team USA), but for her to be able to represent her high school and community at the State Swimming Championships is something that she’ll remember forever! I enjoyed seeing Abby’s, and her parents’ smiles, and knowing that she helped lead the way in this.”
The determination of a high school sophomore has now helped rewrite the history books. Adaptive swimmers will now be able to compete in the OHSAA swim meet alongside their able-bodied peers. Her mission had been accomplished.
“It was super exciting to know that we were competing with the best swimmers in the state,” Gase said. “It’s awesome that adaptive swimming will be at the state meet forever. This will help open the eyes of other swimmers to what Para swimming is.”