Photo By Spc. Ian Ryan | U.S. Army veteran Sgt. Ryan Major from Towson, Maryland practices his swimming...... read more read more
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By John M. Rosenberg
Warrior Transition Command
FORT BLISS, Texas – Sand and water have figured prominently in a dualistic sort of way in the life of Army veteran Ryan Major of Towson, Maryland. Sand and water are also conspicuous features as Major competes in swimming and other adaptive sports at Army Trials amid the gravel and scrub vegetation of Fort Bliss, Texas.
The Army Trials are being held March 6-10 at Fort Bliss in advance of the 2016 Warrior Games, held June 14-22 at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. Major is one of over 100 wounded, ill and injured Army athletes who are competing for 45 coveted slots at the Warrior Games.
As a 10-year-old visiting the home of his grandfather in the Bahamas, the calm, turquoise waters and peaceful pink-sands of the islands seemed like a laid back paradise to Major and his brother. One day the grandfather took them for a swim, the two boys clinging secure upon his strong back as he brought them to an offshore sandbar out into the pulsating Atlantic. “Then, when we were safe, standing on the sandbar, he suddenly dove back into the water and swam back to the beach where he turned and motioned for us to follow,” recalled Major.
Today Major is able to look back upon this event and chuckle, likening it to being tossed into a swimming pool and told to sink or swim.
However, there came another point in time when the former staff sergeant looked upon water and swimming with great trepidation. It was the moment he ventured into a pool for the first time at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center having no legs and with missing fingers upon his hands, the result of an improvised explosive device buried in the floodplain sands of Ramadi, Iraq in 2006 that detonated while he and his squad were on foot patrol.
“It was scary getting back into the water again, because I didn’t have my legs,” said Major.
For yet a second time in his life Major had to overcame a fear of swimming.
A significant percentage of the muscle mass of the human body lies within the legs, though their importance in regards to swimming varies depending upon the stroke. “Once I learned that I could float, it made getting back into the water and swimming that much easier,” said Major.
As with many other wounded, ill and injured Soldiers Major finds the buoyant qualities of water to be incredibly calming and rehabilitative. In terms of swimming he expresses a preference for the breaststroke, saying “It’s the easiest one that I can do.” Major is grateful for the world-class training he received at Army Trials, training that has enabled him to dramatically improve upon his technique.
Though he claims that racing wheelchair is his favorite adaptive sport, swimming comes in a close second. In addition, Major says that water possesses powerful therapeutic qualities that aid him in overcoming deep depression.
Just as musicians utilize the piano in giving rise to their mastery of other instruments, so too does swimming which serves as the basis for Major’s other aquatic activities. In 2008 he began kayaking and was later encouraged by an instructor to take it to the next level and ply the whitewater rapids of the Montana Rockies. The following year he was asked to up his game again and guide a vision impaired Soldier downriver.
Today, Major is an ambassador for a charity that promotes adaptive kayaking for those injured while in service to our nation. According to Major, “It’s important for me to give back in any way that I can.”
| Date Taken: | 03.10.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2016 14:56 |
| Story ID: | 191934 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | TOWSON, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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