BOSTON (WHDH) - As tens of thousands of rowers descend on the Charles River for the Head of the Charles Regatta, a father-son duo have a unique advantage – one of them is blind.
For a blind rower like Dan Berlin, feel and sound is already the world around him.
“You have one person either in the bow or a coxswain in the boat looking forward and everyone else just kind of follows the motion of the boat so it’s kind of feel and sound,” Dan Berlin said.
Dan and his son Adrien have been rowing together for eight years. Dan, diagnosed with a degenerative eye disorder when he was a child, started rowing in their hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado when Adrien joined his high school team.
“It’s just a great thing we started doing together because I was like ‘hey I’m doing it, I think you’d think this is cool, why don’t you do it,'” Adrien said, “and it just kind of evolved into something that the two of us have really bonded over.”
The training is intense, and the pair race in a doubles boat, which can be easier to tip. Adrien navigates while Dan provides the power.
Adrien now works for the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Both men say being able to give people with disabilities visibility on one of rowing’s biggest stages makes every stroke just a little easier.
“It really gives me confidence that I can do the best good for other people as well, outside of my dad,” Adrien said.
The pair have also run the Boston Marathon together.
“It’s so hard when being disabled, when being blind, the easiest thing is to stay in my house, in my apartment to know where I am to know my familiar space, and it’s so important to get out there, get involved in the community, interact with other people and sports like this just help us do that,” Dan said.
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