Before I got involved with Dare2tri, I had been a swimmer for about a year, and had participated on my grade school track team. I am a visually impaired athlete, but had only done able-bodied competitions. Then I did one adaptive sports meet and found out about Turnstone. Then we saw that Turnstone was hosting a Dare2Tri camp weekend, with a "try-it triathlon" at the end. I signed up for it to try it out. I was in a phase where I did not like to have any accomodations, and in that race, I rode my own bike with my mom in front of me yelling out directions, and did not use a guide for the running or swimming because it was on a track and in a pool. That weekend gave me something I really had not had before, a chance to talk with a lot of other athletes with disabilities, one of whom was visually impaired, like me. I fell in love with the sport and realized that to compete at a higher level, I would have to use a guide and ride a tandem. So I went into camp the next year and did just that, then a couple months later completed Junior Nationals and Youth Nationals with a guide, winning my division in both, and being first female finisher overall in both. I love the sport and how hard it is, but rewarding. This year I was very excited to learn that I made Dare2Tri's Junior Development team! That meant that I got to go to Alabama to train in February, and I will be participating in the Pleasant Priairie Triathlon at the end of my Train2Race camp this year. In addition, I will also be competing in paratriathlon at Junior Nationals in Minnesota in July, as well as Youth Nationals in West Chester, Ohio, representing Dare2Tri Paratriathlon club. I hope that by creating this page, I can raise at least $250 to give another kid like me the chance to go to the Dare2Tri Kids camp, and maybe they too, could see that a disability can really open up a cool new sport with lots of awesome people for you! Thank you for considering. Sincerely, Maggie