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WATERSKI MagazineYou don't have to fly on a board or belt out 200-foot jumps to blend in at One Leg Lake, 20 minutes from Griffin, Georgia. The only required act of brotherhood is to throw your fake limb onto the heap of prosthetics that sits on the boat floor at training time.
“When someone brings a friend down to the lake, they'll look into the boat and turn real quiet for awhile,” says David Bethune, one of three leg amputees who helped build the lake in 1993. Named as much for its shape as its demographics, One Leg Lake has sent six skiers to the Disabled Worlds. But perhaps more important are the dozens of amputees who have found a new passion here for the water.
“Everyone at the lake can relate to what it's like to come out of the hospital after an amputation,” says Rhonda Van Dyk, president of the Waterskiers with Disabilities Association. Bethune and company called the place One Leg Lake to eliminate any notion that you might find a sympathy fest here. “Nobody waits on you,” he says. “I have one leg. So what? Look around. So does everybody else.”
Other disabled capitals:
Birmingham, Alabama:
Home of the Magic City Waterski Club, which
has spearheaded grass-roots disabled development and was recently named USA Waterski's club of the year.
Sandy Hook, Connecticut:
The Lake Zoar Waterski Club specializes in lessons for the blind. Two club members, Allan Golabek and Mark Hieftje, are world championship disabled skiers.
