Richard J. Mazur is a 13 year old, classification S 14 swimmer. He was born on Nov. 30, 1986. At the age of 3 (1989) he was diagnosed with a handicap. Then the doctors called it being developmentally delayed. I kept asking if he were autistic but the doctors kept saying no. At this age he started school where he received OT, PT and Speech Therapy. Till this day he still receives Speech Therapy and we just stopped the OT. It was not until 1995 that the doctors finally said that Richard was autistic and that his mental impairment presented an even greater obstacle. They reclassified him to multiple handicapped. To top it off he was on Ritalin for ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper Disorder). In 1995 the leading pediatric neurologist in all of Ohio, Dr. Max Wiznitzer (Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital of University Hospitals of Cleveland) fine tuned Richard's disability to PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder), Mental Impairment and ADHD. In a nutshell, Richard is autistic and will never mature beyond a nine year old (mentally). My spouse and I both asked Dr. Wiznitzer at the same time, "How often are you wrong?" His response, "One in two hundred." We told him that we will be that one!

Richard's first time in the water was at the age of 6 months. Being a competitive swimmer myself (age group and collegiate) I wanted my children to love the water as much as I do. I also wanted them to be safe and feel at home in the water. But for Richard, there was another reason why I started him swimming. I felt that if he could coordinate his body that maybe this could help him coordinate his mind.

Richard started swimming lessons at the age of 3 and started competing dual meets at the age of 8 at Washington Court Club in Medina, OH. It wasn't until the Fall of 1996 (then almost 10 years old) that we joined Brunswick Swim Team (BRST affiliated with Lake Erie Swimming, Inc.) in Brunswick, OH and started competing in USS competitions. Now we started to see changes in Richard's swimming ability. His coach, Jackie Petrucz lead Richard to the first 1998 USS Championships for Swimmers with a Disability. He was only 11, the youngest in his classification. Richard swam his heart out against the 15-22 year olds. He came home with 2 silver (200 meter backstroke/ 400 meter freestyle) and 4 bronze medals (50-,100- and 200- meter freestyle events and 100 meter backstroke).

One reporter, Judy Totts- Editorial staff of the Gazette, put it simply: "Diagnosed as autistic, Richard, now 11, has always struggled with speech. But even though he verbalizes more easily today, he is more comfortable in the pool. His language is written in the water, his words composed of backstroke and butterfly, his sentences the long pull down the pool."

Well, I accomplished one of my goals. Richard is at home in the water. He told Cindy Millen Roberts, free lance writer for SPLASH, who is doing a feature on AASCY and Richard + 3 other swimmers (Feb./March 2000 issue), something I never heard before. Cindy asked him how he felt the first time he went to the 1998 Competition at the University of Minnesota. He told her that he was afraid, that everything was big. But, he told her that when he got into the water everything was OK.

In the Fall of 1998, we moved to Canton, Michigan and joined the Ann Arbor Swim Club-Y (AASCY) in Ann Arbor, MI. Now Richard and his younger sister, Victoria and younger brother, Stephen started swimming 5 days a week for 2 hours each day. Their coach, Dan Ohm, who works with autistic and disabled during his daytime job, is outstanding. His patience and understanding of autism has made it a perfect match for Richard. The longer and harder practices have sent Richard's times plummeting. Dan lead Richard then 12 years old to the 1999 USA National Competition for Swimmers with a Disability where Richard set and holds 3 individual and 1 (4 x 100 medley) relay American Records. He holds the individual records in the 400-and 800- meter free events and the 100 meter back event. Richard came home with 5 gold and 2 silver medals. He made heads turn and notice. Even his toughest competitor, Acey Body now almost 20, who took the gold's and records in 1998 was pushed harder to keep some of his records.

Richard continues to swim 2 hours a day, all strokes, 5-6 days a week. Dan has Richard on a special stretching program since he is very muscular hence tight across the shoulders. Richard does these stretches 2-3 times per day. This Spring for a 6 week period Richard will be swimming doubles. He is gearing up for this year's USA Championships for Swimmers with a Disability otherwise known as the Paralympic Time Trials 2000. Being only 13 and the fact that Richards times are about 6 seconds away from the Paralympic Qualifying times, his chances may be slim this year to make the Paralympic Team. However, in 2004 Richard will be 17, taller and stronger. He also has a coach who believes in him. Yes, Richard is a 2004 Paralympic hopeful. Watch out world....he's coming!

Kind regards, Lauren Mazur