Andrews qualifies for Paralympics at Sydney
Danny Andrews, a 2000 graduate of Gulf High School, has qualified for the 2000 Paralympic Summer Games which will be held in Sydney October 19 to 29.
He qualified by defeating world record holder Joe Lamar in the 800 meters at the U. S. Paralympics trials on June 23. Andrews finished in 2:18.41 and Lamar was second in 2:19.38. While Andrews did not beat Lamar's world record, it was the first time the 28-year-old Lamar had been beaten on American soil in nine years.
The trials were held at Connecticut College in New London.
Andrews can be seen training for the event on most days on the track at Des Little Stadium.
Andrews participated in soccer and track as a Gulf student. He earned a 4.1 weighted GPA and was a member of the National Honor Society, Interact, and the Ecology Club.
Runner who lost his leg dreams of winning gold medal in Sydney
The following column appeared in the St. Petersburg Times on Aug. 28, 2000.By BILL STEVENS
Danny Andrews entered the stadium at Gulf High School, spare leg in hand. Though it was high noon and white hot, he quietly began the training routine he hopes will earn him a gold medal in Sydney, Australia.
Twelve times he raced around the track -- 1 minute and 15 seconds for each quarter-mile lap with only 90 seconds rest in between. And as if that weren't enough, he then ran 200 meters at full speed -- four times.
"This is just a light day," he said. "A conditioning day."
Other days at the track are even more brutal as Andrews pushes himself toward yet another improbable goal. Then there are the daily sessions at the YMCA, where the 19-year-old Holiday man pushes weights to build more strength and endurance.
He has earned a place on the world stage as a premier athlete. Yet he trains alone. It's not that he wants to. He would love a personal trainer, but he can't afford one. Nor can his parents, Luann and Bill, afford to travel to Australia to see their son in his glory.
"We're working overtime all we can," said Mrs. Andrews, a nurse at Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital in Tarpon Springs. "But it's a long way. We're not giving up just yet."
"I don't know," said her husband, a physical therapist at the Florida Spine Institute in Clearwater. "It's a lot to come up with in such a short period of time."
The family watched with envy the way a Tampa Bay community came to the aid of another local sports hero. When Brooksville sprinter John Capel qualified for the Olympics in the 200 meters, listeners of WRBQ-FM 104.7 radio donated $14,000 while local businesses and ordinary folks added another $15,000 to send his family to Sydney.
While expenses of both Andrews and Capel are covered by the U.S. Olympic Committee, there is a distinct difference in the competition, as Andrews quickly and humbly acknowledged. "I'm not in the Olympics," he said. "I'm proud to be representing the United States, but I'm not on the Olympic team."
Andrews is one of 328 members of the U.S. Paralympic team who will compete Oct. 18-29, two weeks after the Olympics end. To qualify in the 800-meter race, Andrews placed first in the national trials last month in Connecticut. His time of 2:18.41 edged the world record holder, 28-year-old Joe LeMar, who has vowed to get his revenge in Sydney.
"Nobody knew who Danny Andrews was," said his proud mom, "but then he beat the best, a man who hadn't lost a race in nine years."
Unlike the Olympic trials, precious little of the Paralympic trials was televised. But while working out at the YMCA, Andrews caught a glimpse of one of his more embarrassing moments while watching ESPN.
"I tripped at the finish line of one race and that made it onto national TV," Andrews said, flashing a grin. "My luck."
Andrews long ago stopped depending on luck. As a 14-year-old goalie for the Hudson Footloose competitive soccer team, he suffered a broken left leg. Medical complications led doctors to amputate the limb just below his knee. The tragedy received widespread media attention.
While in the hospital, Danny got a call from Dennis Oehler, a Long Island, N.Y., man who lost a leg in an automobile accident but went on to win four gold medals in the 1988 Paralympics in Seoul, Korea. Oehler invited Danny to Atlanta to watch him compete in the 1996 Games.
"We drove up," Andrews recalled, "and it helped me realize that I could go out and do it, too."
The handsome, dark-eyed youngster absorbed all he could learn about prosthetics. And in time he would excel again at soccer and track at Gulf High School. He graduated there in the spring with a 4.1 weighted grade-point average, earning a half scholarship at the University of Miami. Because he qualified for the Games, he delayed entering the university until January. He will major in biomedical engineering, hoping one day to work in research and development of prosthetics.
It would take a 5-second improvement from his time at the trials in Connecticut for Andrews to match the world record for his competition class at Sydney. He is confident that he can do it, although it will be more difficult without an experienced trainer.
"I work hard, but I'm sure I could make better use of all that time," he said. "You get to a certain level, a certain time, and it's hard to improve without some expert guidance."
Whether he sets a world record or wins a medal, Andrews will be in fine company at Sydney. More than 5,000 athletes from 124 countries are expected to compete. At Atlanta four years ago, there were 4,000 athletes from 118 countries, according to the U.S. Olympic Committee.
If you would like to help Andrews with expenses, you can make a tax-deductible donation through Disabled Sports USA, a national non-profit organization established in 1967 by disabled Vietnam War veterans. The organization now offers sports rehabilitation programs to anyone with a permanent physical disability.
Checks should be made out to Danny Andrews/DSUSA, 451 Hungerford Drive, Suite 100, Rockville, MD 20850. You can also reach the Andrews family at (727) 841-0304.
