Paralympic Tribute: 2

Last week I presented a tribute to Marieke Vervoort, the Dutch lgbt Paralympic who passed away last year. Today is a tribute to Angela Madsen, the US lgbt Paralympian who died during her attempt to row solo across the Pacific Ocean in June.

Many tributes to Angela appeared online. None of them could have had adequate room to list all of Angela’s achievements so the table below is my attempt to do so.

Note on Paralympic categories:

F54 – (field athletics) Full arm function, no abdominal power.

F55 – (field athletics) Full arm function, partial abdominal power, no lower limb function or leg amputee.

F56 – (field athletics) Full arm and abdominal function, full or partial leg amputee.

LTA – (rowing) Legs, trunk and arms, being able to use a sliding seat.

 

Event/Award	Location/date	Medal/award
National Veteran’s Wheelchair Games	Jun 1995, Atlanta, USA	Gold, 100m freestyle swimming
		Gold, 100m backstroke swimming
		Gold, 100m breaststroke swimming
		Gold, slalom canoeing
		Gold, billiards
National Veteran’s Wheelchair Games	July 1996, Seattle, USA	Gold, 100m freestyle swimming
		Gold, 100m backstroke swimming
		Gold, 100m breaststroke swimming
		Gold, shot put
		Silver, slalom canoeing
Bay-to-Bay Race (open water rowing race)	6 June 1999, San Diego, USA	Gold, 5 mile, open class
Eagle Adaptive Regatta	10 July 1999, Indianapolis, USA	1st place, double sculls
		1st place, 1000m single sculls
		1st place, 2000m single sculls
US Amateur Surfing Championships	18 July 1999, Oceanside, USA	2nd place, prosthetic/handicap division
Newport to Dana Point, California	24 July 1999, California, USA	1st place, 15 mile open ocean row
National Adaptive Rowing Championships	11 Sept. 1999, Philadelphia, USA	1st place, 1000m single sculls
5000m Head Race	10 Oct. 1999, Long Beach, USA	1st place, adaptive rowing
Bay-to-Bay Race	4 June 2000, San Diego, USA	1st place, 5 miles physically challenged open division
International BAYADA Regatta (annual contest for rowers with disabilities)	9 Sept. 2000, Philadelphia, USA	Gold, 400m single sculls
		Gold, double fixed seat sculls
Tony Mezzadri Surf Contest (named after Tony Mezzadri who suffered a spinal cord injury while surfing)	30 Sept. 2000	Most Inspirational Surfer award
Long Beach Rowing Association Christmas Regatta	3 Dec. 2000, Long Beach, USA	1st place, adaptive division
Queen Mary Open Water Row	16 Dec. 2000	1st place, adaptive fixed seat division
Long Beach Rowing Association Spring Regatta	18 March 2001, Long Beach, USA	1st place, 1000m adaptive fixed seat division
International BAYADA Regatta	8 Sept. 2001, Philadelphia, USA	2nd place, 1000m single sculls
Bay-to-Bay Race	4 June 2002, San Diego, USA	3rd place, 20 nautical miles open water race, class 3
International Rowing Federation (IRF) World Rowing Championships	Sept. 2002, Seville, Spain	Silver, adaptive single sculls TA
Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles (now the LA84 Foundation)	Feb 2003	Women Who Inspire Us award
Bay-to-Bay Race	31 May 2003, San Diego, USA	2nd place
National Veterans Wheelchair Games	July 2003, Long Beach, USA	Gold, shot put
		Gold, javelin
		Gold, discus
		Gold, weightlifting
		Silver, wheelchair basketball
IRF World Rowing Championships	August 2003, Milan, Italy	Gold, double sculls TA
International BAYADA Regatta	6 Sept. 2003, Philadelphia, USA	Silver, 1000m men’s/mixed fixed seat category
Leo Reilly jr. Award	6 Sept 2003	Award for spirit and determination
Surfboards for Spinal Cords Contest (formerly Tony Mazzadri Surf Contest)	27 Sept. 2003, Ocean Beach, USA	1st place, surfer with a disability category
IRF World Rowing Championships	August 2004, Banyoles, Spain	Gold, double sculls TA
Surfboards for Spinal Cords Contest	25 Sept. 2004, Ocean Beach, USA	1st place, surfer with a disability category
Spring Regatta	19 March 2005	3rd place, 2000m quadruple sculls
		3rd place, double sculls TA
IRF World Rowing Championships	Sept. 2005, Kaizu, Japan	Gold, double sculls TA
Paris Open Indoor Rowing Championships	11 Dec 2005, Paris, France	1st place, LTA
IRF World Rowing Championships	August 2006, Eton, UK	Gold, double sculls TA
World Records (trans-Atlantic row)	Dec. 2007-Feb 2008, from the Canary Islands to Antigua	First trans-Atlantic row (with Frank Festor) by a pair with disabilities
		First trans-Atlantic row by a woman with a disability
		Oldest woman to row the Atlantic
World Records (trans-Indian Ocean row – those in bold are currently recognised by Guinness World Records)	April-June 2009, from Western Australia to Mauritius	Oldest woman to row the Indian Ocean
		With Helen Taylor, the first women to row the Indian Ocean
		Member of the first team to row the Indian Ocean
		Member of the first crew of 8 to row the Indian Ocean
		First woman with a disability to row the Indian Ocean
		Team to make the fastest crossing of the Indian Ocean
National Veterans Wheelchair Games	July 2009, Spokane, USA	Gold, 100m freestyle swimming
		Gold, 100m breaststroke swimming
		Gold, shot put
		Gold, javelin
		Gold, discus
World Records (as part of 2010 Virgin GB Row, classed as an ocean row – those in bold are currently recognised by Guinness World Records)	June-July 2010, around the UK mainland	Member of the only crew to finish the row
		Member of the first all-female team to row around the UK
		Member of the team to make the fastest unsupported row around the UK
		Oldest woman to row around the UK
World Records (trans-Atlantic row – those in bold are currently recognised by Guinness World Records)	Jan.-March 2011, Morocco to Barbados	First woman to row three oceans
		First woman with a disability to row three oceans
		First woman with a disability to row the same ocean twice
		Oldest woman to row the Atlantic (breaking her own record)
		Member of the largest team to row the Atlantic (team of 16)
		Member of the first catamaran to cross the Atlantic
Para-PanAmerican Games	Nov. 2011, Guadalajara, Mexico	Bronze, shot put F54-56
World Record (US Paralympic Trials)	June-July 2012, Indianapolis, USA	Shot put F56
Boiling Point Track Classic (leading Canadian open track competition for para-athletes)	14 July 2012, University of Windsor, Canada	Gold, shot put F56 (Guinness World Record)
		Gold, javelin F56
Paralympic Games	Sept. 2012, London, UK	Bronze, shot put F54-56
Trans-Pacific row (abandoned)	June 2013, from Santa Cruz, USA	First woman with a disability to attempt to row the Pacific solo
World Records (trans-Pacific row - those in bold are currently recognised by Guinness World Records)	May-July 2014, Long Beach to Hawaii, USA	First female pair to row the Pacific (with Tara Remington)
		First (and, to date, the only) woman to make four oceans crossings
		First woman with a disability to row the Pacific
		Fastest pair to row the Pacific
		First (and, to date, the only) lgbt person to row four oceans
		Oldest woman to row the Pacific
Foundation for Global Sports Development	17 Nov. 2014	Athletes in Excellence Award
Aquatic Capital of America Foundation	16 Jan. 2015	2014 Outstanding Achievement award
Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade	17 May 2015, Long Beach, USA	Grand Marshal
US Paralympic Track and Field National Championships	June 2015, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA	Gold, shot put F53-57
		Silver, discus F54-57
Para-PanAmerican Games	Aug. 2015, Toronto, Canada	Gold, javelin F55/56 (Games record)
		Silver, shot put F56/57
Boiling Point Track Classic	14 July 2016, University of Windsor, Canada	Gold and World Record (breaking her own 2012 record), shot put F56
Trans-Pacific Row (unfinished – the row on which she passed away)	April-June 2020, Marina del Rey, USA to mid-Pacific	Oldest woman to attempt a solo ocean crossing
		First woman to attempt to row the Pacific three times

I’m sure you’re exhausted reading all those records and achievements. Guinness World Records recognized 14 records in their obituary of Angela Madsen. No doubt, there will be some achievements I haven’t yet found.

When the Tokyo Paralympic Games begin next year let’s think about Angela Madsen and Marieke Vervoort and how much they have brought to lgbt sport.