About 150 veterans with disabilities are in San Diego this week for the Summer Sports Clinic, one of several adaptive sports events hosted each year by Veterans Affairs.
Veterans spend the week trying several adaptive sports such as surfing, sailing, kayaking and cycling.
Air Force veteran Tessa Grahmann lives in Richmond, Virginia. It’s her first time at a VA sports clinic. She said it’s opened up a lot of new possibilities.
"I'm definitely looking forward to surfing — something that you never thought you would do or you never thought you could do," she said. "And I'm old now, so, you know, the idea of doing new things didn't seem like it would be possible."
The veterans are divided into several teams who rotate between events day-to-day. On Monday, Grahmann's group was in Coronado to go cycling.
Mike Owens is the director of adaptive sports at the Wounded Warrior Project. The nonprofit sponsors cycling at the clinic.
He's also a Marine Corps veteran.
"In my own journey, you know, being injured in Iraq in '05 and then transitioning out of the Marine Corps, adaptive sports was key," he said. "It still to this day, I know if I'm not active regularly like I'll go downhill — mentally, physically (and) emotionally."
Staff from the VA and Wounded Warrior Project alongside volunteers help the veterans get fitted for various types of cycles. Some opt for hybrid cruisers while others ride recumbent bicycles and trikes. Some are pedaled with feet and some by hand.
Army veteran Rodney Johnson uses a wheelchair to get around. He said after participating in the VA's wheelchair games this year, he decided he wanted to get into cycling.
"The overall thing that I found with both their wheelchair games and (the Summer Sports Clinic) is to be able to talk to vets and listen to the different stories and then look at some of the guys and what they have — (what) they're dealing with," he said. "And I look at mine and go, 'I can do this.' And that's what kind of inspired me ... to get back into cycling."
Johnson lives in rural Wisconsin and said he doesn't get many chances to socialize.
"This is way out of my comfort zone," he said. "I don't tend to socialize very much anymore but here, I could feel comfortable. There's nobody judging me."
Grahmann said she was surprised at the social aspect of the games.
"I thought that learning how to do all the activities was going to actually be the highlight," she said. "But I've been here just a couple days and I feel like I've just made lifetime friends."
Johnson said it reminds him of being on active duty.
"It's easy to connect with these guys and ladies," he said. "So that's what I really like about it — just the camaraderie kind of gives you the feeling of being back in the service where you've got your back up, you've got your friends. You know these guys will be there for you."
The clinic runs through this week.
Johnson said he's looking forward to what's ahead — a recumbent bicycle of his own was delivered to his house just before he left for San Diego.
