Although Roger Cleworth grew up on a lake in Connecticut and shared crew duties on his father’s catamaran with three sisters, the sport of sailing wasn’t always the big part of his life that it is now.  Roger left Connecticut to attend Florida State University, and most of the rest of his family relocated to Florida around the same time.  He graduated in 1982 with a degree in business management and when he wasn’t running his own company, he enjoyed sailing his 41’ trimaran in coastal waters, as well as a 23’ Monterey along inter-coastal waterways.

Seven years ago, Roger, then the President of an environmental company, was at a building site in a Jacksonville, Fla. forest.  With all of the drivers gone for the day, Roger took a truck to make a pick-up.  Two miles down the road he collided with a semi.  Both vehicles caught fire and the horrific accident left nothing of Roger’s truck.  Although he lost both legs, his attitude has always been that he was “a very luck guy.”

At the time of the accident, the youngest of Roger’s three children was less than a year old.  He was going to therapy five days a week and felt he needed something else to challenge him.  Coincidentally, Roger’s first set of prosthetic limbs were made by Waldo Esparza, 1996 Paralympic Bronze Medallist at the disabled sailing demonstration event in Atlanta.  It was Waldo who encouraged Roger to get into disabled sailing.

The guy who likes “learning at his own pace and making his own mistakes” tried to get on a Sonar team leading up to the 2000 Paralympics.  Although it was too close to the 2000 Trials for a Sonar effort, he was persuaded to try a 2.4 Metre with the promise of help from Gene Hinkel and Serge Jorgensen.  His success in the 2.4 Metre included winning the national title, but not the 2004 Paralympic Trials – he finished second.  He will go to Athens as an alternate on the Sonar team, and after a breather from sailing and more family time, will get back into the 2.4 Metre with an eye toward the 2008 Paralympic Games in China.

”The accident was definitely a turning point in life,” said Roger.  “It was just my turn.  Life is fuller now.  I’ve traveled around the world and met a lot of people through disabled sailing.  Sailing is a challenge that’s 80% mental and 20% physical and you get a lot of satisfaction when you do well.”