SARAH NEWLAND-MARTIN
BORN WITH deformed legs on August 5, 1946, Sarah Newland-Martin used her physical disability to achieve great feats for Jamaica while earning the respect of citizens across the island and around the world.
Newland-Martin was taken to what was once the Mona Rehabilitation Centre (now the Sir John Golden Rehabilitation) where she was schooled to cope with her condition. At the age of seven, she was provided with a pair of artificial legs with which she was able to make her first steps. As exercise was mandatory for disabled persons at the rehabilitation centre she decided to use the curricular for swimming. Little did she now that it was from her swimming exercises that she would become a popular name in the country.
In 1965 she received the Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year Award for being the only woman with a disability to complete the 'Across The Harbour', a 2 1/2 mile swim in Kingston Harbour.
A former student of Holy Childhood High and Henderson Secretarial College, Newland-Martin represented the country in swimming and wheelchair basketball. After retiring, she could account for 39 medals received while swimming Ð 15 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze. She now holds the position of general secretary of the Kingston Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) where she tries to improve disabled competition in the country.
One on One went up close with the former swimmer who was hard at work at her office on 21 Hope Road.
Q: Were you a paraplegic from birth?
Sarah Newland-Martin: Well it's not paraplegic. People should know it's a physical disability where both my legs were deformed at birth but were later amputated so I wear artificial legs. That's how I get around.
Q: Of swimming and basketball, which sport do you favour?
SNM: Swimming is my main sport.
Q: When did you start swimming for Jamaica?
SNM: In 1971 when I competed in the Pan American Games. Since then I’ve been to Mexico, Brazil, Canada and Holland.
Q: How did you cope with training for both basketball and swimming?
SNM: Well, basketball is played in a wheelchair so I was trained to manoeuvre the wheelchair. It’s just as the able-bodied sport, just that you are in a wheelchair. Also, the muscles in swimming are different from that of basketball, so apart from the pushing and shoving, I was able to cope.
Q: Is there a particular year you could recall as your most fruitful?
SNM: In all the years I’ve competed, I did very well but I recall 1965, the year of the 'Cross The Harbour’ which was swimming from Bournemouth banks to Gun Boat Beach in Kingston.
Q: What are some of the challenges you were faced with while swimming for Jamaica?
SNM: There were times when it was difficult for me getting to the Stadium or university pools but we used the small pool at the Mona Rehab. Also, there was the challenge of getting from work to the various destinations for training because I used to take the bus.
Q: What was your most memorable experience competing for Jamaica?
SNM: My most memorable experience was swimming in Mexico with people from Argentina, Canada, the United States and Peru. It was an individual medley and I was trailing the girl from the States. She was way ahead of me and at the last lap, I saw the stadium standing but I didn’t know why until I finished the race. I gathered that I had beaten her by a touch.
Q: When did you stop competing?
SNM: In 1982, but I still swim for recreation. It’s a lot of work and after a while it becomes very demanding and difficult.
Q: Who would you consider the most influential person in your life at the time you were competing for Jamaica?
SNM: I have several of them: There is Sir John Golding, Mr. and Mrs. Lopez and Matron Pringle, to name a few. All these people made it possible for me to recognise that I had the the potential and helped me to develop this potential.
Q: How long have you been working at the YMCA?
SNM: I’ve been working here for 19 years.
Q: What were some of your activities at the time you started the 'Y’?
SNM: I taught swimming and craft.
Q: What do you think of the state of Para-Olympic organisation in Jamaica and in the world?
SNM: In Jamaica, I think there is a lot that needs to be done. I’ve been wanting to restore it to what we were accustomed to having but I’m just not very happy with what is happening to it now. In the world, things have changed where it is becoming an elite sport and so the lower levels of persons with disabilities are not able to compete and that I’m disappointed with.
Q: How do you view young disabled Jamaicans becoming competitive?
SNM: I feel more can be done to encourage even the newly-disabled person to be part of the sporting community because the sport itself helps to build self-confidence in terms of seeing themselves able to do something other than indulging in self pity.
Carl Spence
