I started working out with dare2tri just about 2 years after my accident. I didn’t know how to swim, what it meant to run in my condition or had much strength for handcycling. I knew how to swim before my accident but that meant nothing with my new condition.  They provided 2 practices a week to help me learn to swim again. They assigned me a volunteer to support me in the pool and lake. They gave me great feedback on what type of stroke might be best fit me. I ended up doing the back stroke because there was no way to do the breast stroke with my tight hip flexors from sitting in the chair so much.  I was also too weak to be able to change my clothes in my chair after swimming- they had people there to help with that too. It’s been a few years and thanks to Dare2tri I can dress, undress, swim ½ a mile, transfer in the pool on my own and I have gained a lot of confidence not only with my swimming but in my life. One of the biggest struggles still is getting in and out of a pool on my own but I know there is always 2 swim practices I can do with Dare2tri each week.  My body loves the water – my nerve pain disappears and my leg spasms totally relax. I’ve also learned how to use a push chair for racing which is super fun. I completed my first sprint Triathlon in May of 2017. I had to take a break while I’m working on my exercises for walking again, but in the mean time I still attend their swim sessions and they are so supportive they also allow me to use the pool sessions for me to practice pool walking with a walker and ankle weights. They will never push you into something you are not comfortable with but they do want you to push yourself everyday so you can start to become more comfortable pushing your limits. Their goal is to help people get active so even if you only want to swim, cycle or only run you can still participate and if you decide to compete you would be able to do a triathlon with others completing the other 2 sections of the race. So no matter your level of activity they are there to help you get active and find some health and self- confidence for life.