Disabled Athlete Scores a Big Win for Handicapped Competitors in Illinois

A Chicago-area swimmer rose to the challenge to fight rules that discriminated against disabled athletes. Sponsored by Grape-Nuts.

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Disabled Athlete Scores a Big Win for Handicapped Competitors in Illinois

A Chicago-area swimmer rose to the challenge to fight rules that discriminated against disabled athletes. Sponsored by Grape-Nuts.

About this sponsorship: In honor of the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent of Mount Everest, Patch and Grape-Nuts are teaming up to highlight those who inspire people around them to climb their own mountains. Nothing bothers Mary Kate Callahan. Now an active teen, Callahan’s life changed when she was 5 months old. A virus attacked her spinal cord and left her paralyzed from the waist down.   “I didn’t let that stop me,” Callahan says. Despite this challenge, she has accomplished more during the past few years than many do in a lifetime. Callahan visits schools and speaks to children about overcoming obstacles. She took third place in a triathlon. But her biggest success came in changing Illinois High School …

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La Grange Swimmer's Lawsuit to Result in History at Weekend Meet

Seven athletes from around Illinois will be among the first students with physical or visual impairments to swim at a state meet this year.

When 12-year-old Aaron Holzmueller watches the state swim meet at Evanston Township High School this weekend, he’ll be dreaming of racing in the event one day himself.  And that’s an incredible thing, says his mom, Birdy Holzmueller.  A seventh-grader at Dr. Bessie Rhodes Magnet School, Aaron has cerebral palsy, and swims and runs triathlons for several local teams. This weekend’s state swim meet is the first time physically and visually impaired athletes, like Aaron, will be able to compete and score points in their own division.  “For him to be on the team and feel on the team and contribute to the team by potentially earning points … that’s an incredible thing,” Holzmueller says.  Aaron will one day have a chance to compete at the state…

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Disabled La Grange Swimmer and IHSA Reach Settlement

Settlement reached between Fenwick's Mary Kate Callahan and the Illinois High School Association allows will allow disabled swimmer to compete in state events this year.

Equip for Equality, a advocacy group for people with disabilities, reported Sept. 18 that they and Fenwick High School senior and La Grange resident Mary Kate Callahan have reached a settlement with the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) on Sept. 10. The settlement allows for Callahan, who uses a wheelchair, to compete in state swimming competitions this year. Callahan and Equip for Equality sued the IHSA in May to allow disabled students the right to compete in state meets. Previously, the IHSA did not have athletic standards for disabled students and did not allow them to compete in state meets. Earlier this month, in a video posted by the Chicago Tribune, Callahan talked about her desire to compete with her team and the hope that …

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Video: Disabled Swimmer Hopes to Go to State With Team

Mary Kate Callahan, of La Grange, lost the use of her legs due to a rare neurological disease as an infant. She hopes to compete in the state swimming tournament and pave the way for other disabled athletes who are not allowed to compete in state meets.

Mary Kate Callahan, of La Grange, is a swimmer and senior at Fenwick High School in Oak Park. Like her teammates on the swim team, Callahan trains rigorously to improve her times and compete against fellow swimmers. Unlike her other teammates, Callahan is wheelchair bound—her legs were paralyzed due to a rare neurological disease as an infant. Callahan was named a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit in May against the Illinois High School Association, the nonprofit that regulates high school competitions across the state. Unlike in many other states, Callahan is not allowed to participate in state meets because she is disabled. For Patch's story on Callahan's fight for equality, click here. Callahan hopes that this year, her senior year, she'll…

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