Paralympic swimmer wows students, staff

Paralympic swimmer Dave Denniston's speech Wednesday night, after his afternoon swimming demonstration, encouraged his audience to keep a positive outlook on life, practice self-discipline, and give back to the community.

Denniston did not begin his speech by talking about the sledding accident that in 2005 left him paralyzed from the waist down. Nor did he begin with swimming, though his resume includes being a 1999 NCAA Champion, a 15-time NCAA All-American, a seven-time SEC Champion, and, in 2008, captain of the Bejing Paralympics swim team.

"You all are probably sick of that," Denniston said, grinning. "The last thing you want to hear about is swimming." Instead he began with his childhood dream of becoming a basketball player, "mostly for the free shoes."

Once Denniston discovered that basketball was not for him - as he put it, "I had all the coordination of a skinny white kid from Wyoming" - he took up swimming. But in his speech he skimmed quickly over his swimming career and even his life-changing accident, choosing instead to focus on what his audience could learn from his experiences.

With props like a decapitated doll, action figures, and a ripe banana ("Your spinal cord is delicious") to emphasize his points, Denniston stressed the importance of a good outlook on life. After his accident, Denniston said he realized the power of attitude in one's life.

"I'm not telling you to go headfirst into a tree to get a positive attitude," Denniston said. "You can do that right now."

According to Denniston, "attitude is just a bridge that connects your mind to your body, but it can get you through the tough times in your life." He added that keeping a positive attitude and remaining hopeful helped him to get through the deaths of five friends due to cancer. Denniston also urged listeners to "step back and appreciate everything you have and try to help people who have less than you." He said the best way to feel better is to "try to make someone else happy."

He concluded by taking out a pair of basketball shoes and listing a few of his own hopes for the future, of putting on those shoes, crossing the court, and dunking the basketball.

"Above all," Denniston said, "always have hope. Hope will allow you to do things you never thought possible."

"I thought it was great to see someone take a situation that most people would see as a life-changing event in a very negative way, and turn it around in a very positive way," GU student Lauren Doty said. "I really liked how he said something that could be considered to be the worst thing happening in his entire life was actually the best thing that ever happened to him."

Denniston's speech was made possible through the efforts of DREAM and Performing Arts Activities Chair Hannah Witt, as well as senior Nate Higgins, also a physically disabled swimmer, who took part the swimming demonstration with Denniston.

"We really wanted to highlight diversity of experience and challenge ideas of what is normal," Witt said of inviting Denniston to speak at Gonzaga. Witt said that as a continuation of this theme, the University will host Diversity Week during the first week of April, which will include wheelchair basketball and will explore the various aspects of diversity both on campus and in the outside community.