A New
Record for Male Wheelchair Bowlers Who Drive by Chin Control!
Jesse Collens and Kenny Salvini are the first among their area's group
of wheelchair-using friends to begin bowling regularly. They are doing
so for the "IKAN
Have Fun Bowling League"
(link) which is where users can bowl
locally, and share scores online, in friendly, free competition with
folks all over the world. Jesse and Kenny are encouraging their buddies
to join them in forming their version of a Washington State Quad Squad,
similar to our Central Florida Quad Squad
(link).
So, bowling on
February 9, Jesse, a C1-C2 quadriplegic and ventilator user, got in a groove, and set the
world record for male
wheelchair users driving by chin control with an impressive 213! :-)
Jesse was apparently in a bit of disbelief at how well he was bowling –
he was laughing – hard! (There is also a good chance that Jesse was
laughing at what I'm sure was entertaining commentary from Kenny!)
Kenny wrote:
"What an
incredible experience to be one lane over from that performance.
Especially given the fact that Jesse had struggled for weeks to get his
chin control dialed in, barely bowling 90 pin games, but that day
everything just clicked. He figured out a good left hook spin and found
an insanely consistent groove and rattled off nine straight frames with
a spare or a strike. I haven't seen him laugh that hard ever. He was
pretty pumped. Plus, now it's given me something to chase,
competitively. It's been a lot of fun the last few weeks."
Here is Jesse's scoresheet, and below is a video from an earlier day
when the guys went bowling:
Here is a
Youtube video of Jesse bowling by chin control with his
IKAN Bowler®
(link):
If you're curious, the
previous world record by a male chin control user was 181 by Brian Cross
(a friend I know personally; no link or scoresheet available).
