Water
skiing was introduced to the disabled community in 1983 with the
invention of the KanSki by Royce Andes. Royce was involved in
a barefooting accident that broke his neck and left him paralyzed.
He took a whole new look on his beloved sport water skiing and
how he could adapt it to the disabled community. Royce was hurt
in July of 1982 and had a prototype on the water by May of 1983.
He drew the design with a stick pen in his mouth and his good
friends took his design from paper to a real prototype. With the
help of Royce’s KanSki disabled water skiing has exploded
into an international sport with people competing in slalom, jump
and tricks.
The main differences
between a sit ski and a able-bodied ski is the board is generally
wider and longer and the skier sits in a padded “cage”.
Beginners would start on a ski such as the Freedom that has a
block in the front where a knot would be tied and placed in so
the ski can be pulled out of the water without any strength from
the skier. For those with less mobility, “outriggers”
(small ski shaped devices that bolt underneath the cage) are used
to keep the ski stable. For those who need more support because
of a lack of trunk control, a “quad back” is used
to keep the skier upright.
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