By Sarah Richards, ABC News
Read the full article here.
Not even a year after losing his left leg below the knee in a motorbike accident, Jack McLeish is back into the rhythm of rowing.
The 14-year-old's return to the water has been guided by Paris Paralympic gold medallist Jed Altschwager, who flew to Queensland from Adelaide to meet the teen and his prosthetist on the Gold Coast.
Altschwager, Australia's first Paralympic rowing gold medallist, helped Jack troubleshoot and shortcut the two years of challenges he had trying to find the right prosthetic for rowing.
Jack's prosthetic had a big spring with no movement — now his "rowing foot" allows ankle movement.
"It's good to have someone that's been through, you know, been 10 years in," Jack said.
"Good to have someone that knows about feet."
The Southport School student, who lost his leg in May last year, loved rowing from the first day he picked up an oar when the rowing boats outside his boarding house caught his eye in grade 7.
The student from Winton, an outback town in western Queensland, made the school's rowing team that same year.
Jack's return to school after his accident aligned perfectly with the start of the rowing season.
"As soon as I got back in the boat and I did a bit training, [it was] just like normal really," the Year 9 student said.
"I don't find much difference. Obviously, there's less power, but it all feels the same."
Altschwager, who won Paralympic gold last year and has since retired, helped Jack get back in the boat after meeting through mutual connections.
While Altschwager, who is also a below-the-knee amputee, was visiting Jack's school, he was also introduced to another student who had taken an interest in para-rowing.
Year 10 student Beau McKelvey started rowing at the end of last year and is considering a career in the sport.
The student from Goondiwindi, on Queensland's southern border, broke his back after falling off his motorbike in 2021 and has no feeling from his waist down.
The 15-year-old had always been a sporty person before his accident, and became involved in rowing after the school's head coach scouted him out at a swimming carnival.
"He just came up to me and said, 'If you'd like to try rowing, you can come and see me one day, and we'll figure it out from there'," Beau said.
"It's been one difficult but easy path."
Altschwager sports career has been a source of inspiration for Beau.
"He could show us how he'd gone down that Paralympic path and show us what we need to do to be able to go down that path as well," he said.
"I'll keep going down the pathway of rowing and like training, and hopefully I can get to a few more, like the state events and that to get a bit more experience with racing.
"And then just see what opportunities come up."
Altschwager was impressed with what he witnessed at the school.
"What I saw firsthand was, like, a really open-minded coach that's like, 'Mate, what do you need to make it work?'," he said.
"It was just so cool for a guy that's like [a] disabled dude that's been through his journey to see this environment.
"There's not too many places, even like para clubs, that support rowing and Paralympic pathways."
The Paralympian said his only advice to the boys was to "keep rowing".
"You're literally doing everything you possibly could be doing right now to put you in a great position, performance-wise," Altschwager said.
The Southport School's headmaster, Andrew Hawkins, said having the boys involved in the sport was important.
"They're our boys, so we just want them to feel like every other boy in the school," he said.
While chair of the Great Public Schools Association of Queensland (GPS), Mr Hawkins pushed for the GPS Head of the River regatta to hold its first ever para-race for Beau and Jack to compete in earlier this year.
"My dream is that every athletic event we do, we have a classified race of some kind, and rowing was just a logical chance to have a go," Mr Hawkins said.
It was the first event of its kind in the regatta's 104-year history.
"It's great because these guys are now part of history," Mr Hawkins said.
"Hard to believe we haven't done one before this.
"I'm pretty excited about the next 104 years, to be honest."
Mr Hawkins said if he saw Jack and Beau row in the Brisbane 2032 Paralympic Games, he'd put the "cue in the rack" on his career in education.
"For me, this is success, opening up some doors for our boys and who knows where this could lead to," he said.
"There's not much more I could dream of."
