Ruling in the pool

Published 10:56 am Friday, November 27, 2009

For as long as she can remember, Kayla Wheeler has loved to swim.

She was first introduced to the water when she was 18 months old as part of a hydrotherapy program.

The 13-year-old Lynnwood girl was born without any legs. She is missing her right arm above the elbow and has a fused left elbow.

The goal of the therapy was for Wheeler to learn how to move around and to be able to upright herself. The therapists worked on those skills in the water and once Wheeler mastered them, she was able to transfer them outside of the water.

Kayla’s parents, Joyce and Dean, realized how much she loved being in the water during the hydrotherapy sessions.

“I kind of took to the water like a fish and ever since then I liked swimming,” said Wheeler, an eighth-grader at Madrona K-8 School. “I feel different in the water. I don’t feel any limits or anything like that. I feel totally weightless.”

Life’s passion

Later on, the Wheelers sought out swim lessons for Kayla, mainly out of safety concerns.

“I just wanted to make sure if something happened and she fell into the water that she could upright herself and be OK until somebody could get her help,” Joyce said.

What started as therapy turned into a major passion in Kayla’s life.

This week Kayla is headed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to compete in the 2009 International Paralympic Committee’s first Short Course Swimming World Championships. The meet runs from Nov. 29-Dec. 5 and features more than 260 athletes from 31 different countries. Wheeler is the youngest member of the United States team. She will be swimming in the 50-meter butterfly and the 50 and 100 freestyles.

Wheeler competed in a qualifying meet in Edmonton, Canada, last July. Wheeler’s time of 1 minute, 41.40 seconds in the 50 butterfly earned her the spot on the U.S. team. The time was the fourth fastest in the world in her classification and also is an American record.

Swimmers are ranked from S1-S10 based on their disability with S1 being the most disabled and S10 being the least. Wheeler is an S3.

“I just kind of swam to get my times and get my face out there,” Wheeler said. “I wasn’t really swimming to be picked for the meet.”

When she arrived home, Wheeler received an e-mail informing her that she was selected for the Paralympic team. At first Wheeler and her mother weren’t sure Kayla would be able to attend the meet because of financial costs, but they found out that the expenses were going to be picked up by the U.S. team.

Still a mystery

That Wheeler one day would become an athlete challenging for world records was the furthest thing from Joyce’s mind when Kayla was born. Up until the day she gave birth, Joyce experienced a healthy normal pregnancy.

“My mom didn’t even know I was going to be born without any of my limbs until after I was born,” Kayla said.

The Wheelers saw genetic doctors and specialists after Kayla’s birth, but no one was able to determine the exact cause of her limb deficiency. The doctor’s best guess was that Kayla suffered some type of vascular problem, such as a blood clot, when she was developing.

Kayla underwent a battery of tests after she was born. No other problems surfaced.

“Other organs like your kidneys develop at the same time as the limbs,” Joyce said. “But as far as we know she is healthy otherwise. She just seems to be missing some parts.”

Kayla’s brain was not affected by what happened. Wheeler consistently brings home good grades and already is doing high school math, Joyce said.

A learning experience

It was at Maplewood where Kayla met kindergarten teacher Lib Rust, who became Wheeler’s swim instructor. Before she met Rust, Kayla didn’t have much luck working with other swim instructors.

“Before I’d go to other little swim lessons. (The instructors) wouldn’t really teach me,” Wheeler said. “They’d let me play around in the pool. It didn’t really help out at all.”

Rust agreed to take on the challenge of teaching Wheeler. It turned out to be a learning experience for both Wheeler and Rust.

“Some of the strokes you had to adapt to what is going to work best for her,” Rust said. “It’s kind of experimental. ‘Well, let’s try this.’”

Through her lessons with Rust, Wheeler learned the stroke mechanics to keep her body in line and not to swim in circles. Kayla also figured out how to swim underwater and to upright herself in the pool.

In the spring of 2007, Wheeler joined the Shadow Seals, an adaptive (disabled) swim team in Renton. Later, so she could have more pool time, she joined the Edmonds-based Barracuda swim team, which is coached by Rust’s twin sister, Amy.

People often are shocked when they see Wheeler swimming with her teams.

“She’s freaked out a few lifeguards in her time,” Joyce said.

Kayla admits that sometimes she’s had a little fun at their expense.

“I’d jump off the side of the pool or something and they’re like ‘Aaaahhhh, she’s drowning,’ Kayla said. “Then I’d pop back up and I’d start swimming.”

Lifeguards aren’t the only ones to take notice of Kayla. Some other disabled individuals were inspired to start swimming after they saw Wheeler and what she was able to do in the pool, Joyce said.

The Rust sisters also have been inspired by working with Kayla.

“It’s really opened our eyes to what you can accomplish,” Amy Rust said.

“You learn to never give up on somebody,” Lib Rust added. “You keep at it and you just keep at it and know that there are no boundaries if somebody wants to keep going.”