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Earth Week

"Swim With Mike" Creates Scholarships for Physically
Challenged Student-Athletes with Swim-a-Thon

Kristin Luciani | May 2, 2011

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Regan Linton
Regan Linton, UC San Diego graduate student and 'Swim With Mike' scholarship recipient

As a high school athlete, UC San Diego sophomore Jacob Robinson played basketball, rugby, volleyball and football. When not at practice, he enjoyed surfing, snowboarding and riding his dirt bike. In addition to sports, Robinson was actively involved in mission trips through his church and in the summer of 2008 traveled to Africa to volunteer at the Tumaini Children’s Home.

On September 23, 2008, however, Robinson’s active lifestyle came to a sudden and dramatic halt. On his way home from football practice, Robinson lost control of his car, swerved across the road and into a telephone pole at 50 miles per hour. He fractured his vertebrae in three places resulting in T-9 paraplegia.

Robinson is one of two current UC San Diego students who have received Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarships from the national organization “Swim With Mike.” Established at the University of Southern California in 1981, initially to help former USC swimmer and Olympian Mike Nyeholt, “Swim With Mike” is the only fund of its kind that supports physically challenged student-athletes to help them overcome their disabilities and pursue both undergraduate and graduate degrees. To date, the organization has raised nearly $11 million dollars for scholarships benefitting more than 100 students attending more than 40 universities nationwide.

“The night I found out I would never walk again was the scariest moment of my life, as probably could be expected,” said Robinson. “In such a dark time, ‘Swim With Mike’ was able to reach out and offer me something that nothing else in my life seemed to be handing me: hope.” At UC San Diego, Robinson is learning to play adapted sports and is planning to pursue a career in medicine.

UC San Diego graduate student Regan Linton played soccer, softball, skied and swam during high school, and played intramural soccer as an undergrad at USC. While there, she sustained a T-4 complete spinal cord injury in a car accident. After graduating from USC in 2004, Regan returned to her hometown of Denver, where she continued her participation in swimming, golf and skiing. She also began performing again in plays and musicals. Regan received her master's degree in social work at the University of Denver and solidified her interest in utilizing the performing arts to empower individuals, expand perspectives and effect positive change in a variety of communities. Regan is now studying for her master’s of fine arts in acting at UC San Diego. She began the prestigious three-year program in fall 2010 and looks forward to an acting residency at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2012.

UC San Diego will present its first “Swim With Mike” fundraising event Saturday, May 7, with a swim-a-thon at the Canyon View Aquatic Center on campus from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is being hosted by UC San Diego Recreation, Athletics, the Office of Students with Disabilities and the Student Wellness cluster of Student Affairs, in collaboration with “Swim With Mike.” Through donations, sponsorships and enthusiastic swimmers, the event will help physically challenged athletes like Robinson and Linton overcome their tragedies and realize their full potential by advancing their education.

Jacob Robinson
Jacob Robinson, UC San Diego sophomore and 'Swim With Mike' scholarship recipient

“We are extremely excited to be partnering with ‘Swim with Mike’ and hosting the inaugural event on the UC San Diego campus,” said Dave Koch, director of Campus Recreation at UC San Diego. “This is a terrific opportunity for our campus to recognize and celebrate the two students who are currently receiving ‘Swim With Mike’ scholarships, but also to increase awareness and raise additional funds to support future scholarships,” he said.

Added Mike Thomas, one of the event organizers, “The fact of the matter is that these kids have their whole lives ahead of them and to think of the consequences of their injury is devastating.” He continued, “‘Swim With Mike’ helps to get them back in the game. The possibility for a great life opens up with education.”

To qualify for a Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship, applicants must have suffered an illness or injury that resulted in a physical disability that substantially limits major life activity; have participated in organized high school or college athletics prior to the illness or injury; meet admissions requirements of the selected university; and maintain at least a 2.5 grade-point average while enrolled. Click here to learn more about the “Swim With Mike” event and learn how to get involved.

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