MS hasn't kept him out
of his seat in the boat
Ian Finn (left) and teammate Mike McKeon prepare for launch prior to a practice race at the Bellegarde Boathouse in Lowell. (PHOTO BY ZARA TZANEV FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE) By Justin A. Rice Globe Correspondent / October 19, 2008
Every competitive rower is more than familiar with the burning sensation that rips through their muscles with every stroke. Not every rower, however, can cope with that anguish by recalling excruciating pain of a different kind.
"During a race it's like your muscles are on fire, but when I have to go to the hospital it's like having someone pick at the back of my eyes, just tearing it up," said Finn, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about a year after joining the high school team.
"I just think that's so much worse than having your muscles burn because you know when the pain will subside from your muscles. When I'm in the hospital I don't know how long it's gonna last.
"Before every race, I know it's gonna hurt, I think about the hospital and that gets me through the race, the thought of just laying there in bed knowing it's gonna hurt no matter what."
Even though he has not been hospitalized in the past year, the 17-year-old Finn knows his immune system is attacking his central nervous system and could eventually prevent him from rowing at the level he does today making moments such as racing in this morning's 44th Head of the Charles Regatta for the first time indescribable.
"It will be pretty sweet," said Finn, who, the last two Octobers, has watched his team from the banks of the Charles. "It's definitely a jaw-dropping sort of thing to hear you're going to the biggest race in the world and actually racing. It's amazing."
But competing in the high school division of the Head will not be the lone memory of this weekend. Finn was scheduled to meet another rower with MS, Laura Schwanger , who won bronze in the arms-only singles discipline at the recent Paralympic Games in Beijing.
"As he gets older, if his disability gets worse, this is an option to continue to compete against his peers," said the 49-year-old Schwanger in a phone interview from her home in Elkins Park, Pa., last week. She became paralyzed from the waist down shortly after being diagnosed in 1982.
"He does have a future," added Schwanger, who was slated to row on the Charles this morning.
Schwanger, who received experimental MS treatment at Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital in 1982, picked up the sport shortly before rowing in the first-ever Paralympic crew events in China last month. She said she would encourage Finn to try out for the United States' four-man boat competing at the 2012 Games in London.
Finn, who plans on rowing in college, possibly at San Diego State, expressed interest in the Paralympics but, at the same time, shows no physical signs of MS on a daily basis and said it would be a difficult transition."I don't like to think of myself as disabled," the 6-foot-5-inch lanky rower said. "I would definitely compete but I would rather be competing in the regular Games."
As long as the disease doesn't destroy his nervous system, there's no reason Finn can't compete at a high level for many more years. Last year, he was part of Lowell's four-man boat that won a bronze medal at states and silver in the heavyweight eights. The squad recently placed third out of 38 teams at the Textile River Regatta junior's men's fours in Lowell, where Finn also finished sixth in a two-man boat.
"I actually only started rowing because I didn't make the golf team," said Finn, who has since gained 20 pounds of muscle. "And because the boathouse is right down the street from my house."
Nevertheless, he helped Lowell finish 16th overall in the USRowing Youth Nationals Championships in Cincinnati as a sophomore, the same year he was officially diagnosed with MS after doctors discovered quarter-sized lesions in his brain. In fact, Finn's doctors believe the muscle mass he's gained from rowing is staving off the disease.
Finn, who is participating in the MS Cure Fund Regatta Ball today, also raised $4,000 with his teammates during an MS hike in the Berkshires recently. The team, plus 10 alumni, will sport MS armbands this weekend as well.
"It's hard to be a poster child but he's holding up pretty well with it," Lowell coach Jen Bauer said. "The kids admire him and support him."
Bauer, who is racing her fifth Head of the Charles this weekend with her club team, has stood by Finn's side during some of his worst attacks, including one that floored him during school. She was immediately paged and helped get him to the hospital, where he was given steroids and put on an IV.
"It's hard for him to go the hospital and three days later be back on a boat winning medals," Bauer said. "That's just Ian, he's phenomenal. . . . It has helped him become a mentally tough athlete. He always said that the pain he experiences in an MS episode is worse than anything he could experience on a boat. I think that makes him a stronger rower."
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