Brewery to have fundraiser for 2008 Olympic hopeful


U.S. Paralympic team member Nick Scandone is hoping to earn a spot to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

U.S. Paralympic team member Nick Scandone, diagnosed in 2002 with the degenerative condition known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is focused on gaining a berth to compete in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Scandone is sailing in qualifying regattas on the East Coast but will be back in town next week in time to attend a fundraiser in his honor at the Newport Beach Brewing Company.

The event will be from 6 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, and the brewery will donate 15% of the night's proceeds to help Scandone in his quest.

For more information, call (949) 644-1480 or (949) 675-8449.

To read more about Scandone's experiences, visit www.alove4sailing.com.

— Sue Thoensen
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2...scandone03.txt

Nick the Quick

Nick Scandone, blasted onto the disabled sailing scene last year at the 2004 NACC/IC, since then has qualified as #1 on the US Disabled Sailing Team (USDST) and won for the second time in a row the NACC/IC Single-handed division. I did a google on Nick and found a few things from his sailing past. Hot off the press is the fact that Nick just won the 2005 2.5m World Championships!

An Ullman Sails article on Winning in Naples Sabots Nick helped pen.
Nick named to the 1988 College All American Sailing Team
2000 Snipe PCC results
Most recently placing 6th at the 2005 IFDS Worlds.
Sailing Anarchy has always covered all aspects of sailing and as fringe as disabled sailing may be we will not let it go un-noticed. So we shot Nick a few questions so all you other (Able-Bodied) sailors might get some insight into what makes someone who faces a life changing trauma or in Nick's case....well you read and decide for yourself. Medical research may stall for monetary or political reasons but the biological time clock ticks on. - Dawg

INTERVIEW LINK
http://www.sailinganarchy.com/innerv...5/scandone.htm

Sailor with ALS eyes 2008 Olympics
Embraces life after diagnosis, voted Yachtsman of the Year by U.S. Sailing
NBC VIDEO


Man follows dream in spite of illness

Feb. 3: NBC's Josh Mankiewicz reports on a man who knows the time he is devoting to his Olympic dream may be the only time he has left.
Nightly News

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Nick Scandone and his wife, Mary Kay, are partners and good friends, as it turned out, in health and in sickness.

"I went into the doctors just for some back pain, and I came out with diagnosed ALS," says Nick. "[It] just seemed way too far-fetched than I would ever believe."

Nick has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. It is slowly paralyzing and always incurable. Most of the unlucky few who get it don't last five years.


Four years ago, an ALS diagnosis was crushing news, but for Nick Scandone, it was an opportunity to change his life. He quit his marketing job and headed straight for the water.

"A big part of this disease is looking forward to your death," he says. "And I don't want to do that. I want to look forward to my life, and so that's why I'm doing what I enjoy doing so much."

Back in his 20s, Nick had been a champion sailor with Olympic ambitions. Now, as he fights ALS, he's thinking about Beijing in 2008.

"My disease has actually brought me back into competitive racing and given me the opportunity to get to the Olympics like I wanted to many years ago," he says.

As his strength ebbed, Nick needed a boat he could handle. He's racing the Olympic 2.4-meter yacht — and he's winning. In September he won the world championship — not for disabled sailors, for everyone — and was named U.S. Sailing's Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.

"Nick was judged evenly with other able-bodied sailors, and this award is based on his performance without any compensation or adjustment for his disability," says Dean Brenner, chairman of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Committee.

He moves more easily on the water than most of us do on dry land.

"Just because you become disabled doesn't mean that you can't reach a goal that you never thought you could," says Nick.


Click for related content
Fact file: Q&A on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis


Nick has for years taught sailing to kids and seniors, and he will continue to do so, as long as he is able, showing them what's possible when you put your mind to it.

"What did Lou Gehrig say in that speech? You know, 'he's the luckiest man alive'? Well, right now I feel that way."

Nick Scandone is sailing into the sunset without letting go of his dreams.

Nick welcomes your e-mails at alove4sailing@socal.rr.com.

© 2007 MSNBC Interactivehttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11162008/

NBC VIDEO
http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?.../11162008/&fg=

Man follows dream in spite of illness
Feb. 3: NBC's Josh Mankiewicz reports on a man who knows the time he is devoting to his Olympic dream may be the only time he has left.