Through a partnership with Paralyzed Veterans of America, the TriSoldier Project will be taking a team of five disabled veterans to Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens on 15 August 2010. The TriSoldiers, Sean Halsted, Tarus Nelson, John Dicorce, Kevin McNease and Derik Weida come from varied backgrounds across the country.
They have two things in common, they are classified as a disabled veteran by the Veterans Administration and they have used the sport of triathlon to overcome the effects of their injuries.
TriSoldier was founded in 2009 by former army officer and USA Triathlon certified coach Jeff Trout as a way to provide coaching to disabled veterans who want to participate in the sport of triathlon. After an article was posted about TriSoldier by USA Triathlon on its website, the organisation took off quickly.
Many people across the county contacted TriSoldier with offers to help. TriSoldier started a coaching directory which lists coaches throughout the country who pledged to donate their time to disabled veterans in their local area.
In February of this year, Andy MacDonald, Associate Director of Sports and Recreation of the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), stepped in and provided support to put together the Lake Stevens event.
Jeff Trout, Executive Director of the TriSoldier Projec,t feels this partnership will expand in the future. "Andy came to us and offered us a chance to take TriSoldier to the next level. Hopefully going forward, we will be able to return the favour to the PVA by providing support to the paratriathlete community."
Trout goes on to say, "Andy and I have talked about expanding to at least six races next year, and our plan at TriSoldier is to raise money to provide grants to athletes for training and equipment in the future. I don’t think the average person realises the expense associated with prosthesis, handcycles and racing wheelchairs that disabled athletes depend on for training as well as competition."
