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| Paulzine takes to the pool |
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February 24, 2010 |
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Justin Paulzine swims with the Stingrays from the Worthington YMCA. | By Norma Dittman |
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Justin Paulzine, an 11-year old sixth grader at Fulda Elementary School, has earned more than twenty-five competition ribbons since joining the YMCA Worthington Stingrays in October of 2009. Among the ribbons is a Second Place one earned during the Pumpkin Championships hosted by the YMCA of Austin, MN. There are also eight first place ribbons, four second place ribbons, three third place ribbons, four 4th place ribbons, three fifth place ribbons, and one each for seventh and eighth place ribbons. Paulzine does not yet have in his possession the medals or state competition ribbons that he earned. It was January 2009 when Paulzine had surgery to help correct a degenerative hip disease called Legg-Calve- Perthes. “Legg-Calve-Perthes disease is a childhood condition associated with a temporary loss of blood supply to part of the hip joint. Without adequate blood flow, a process occurs in which the bone becomes unstable, and may break easily and then heal poorly,” Paulzine’s mother, Paullette McNab explained. Paulzine’s surgery was done in Rochester, MN, through the Mayo Clinic. A visit to the Mayo Clinic Website details that “Legg-Calve-Perthes disease typically affects one hip, but sometimes it develops in both hips. Although Legg-Calve-Perthes disease can affect children of nearly any age, it's most common among boys ages 4 to 8.” “When we brought Justin home from the hospital, he was in a fulll-body cast,” McNab detailed. “He has a plate and two pins in his hip to help reposition the whole hip and aid the bones in healing properly. He was in a wheel chair for a while, and then on crutches. The doctors explained that Justin would need to totally avoid any running, jumping and all contact sports. So I asked them what he could do, as they had said that exercise is essential for bone health. Our hope is that the bone will be more round with activity. If he would just sit around, the bone would flatten out. The doctors said that the best excersie for Justin would be swimming and biking. We signed him up at the YMCA and he swims three times per week.” “There are 24 people on the Stingrays swimteam,” Paulzine said. “If you can swim the length of the pool, you can be on the team. We have three practices per week, and the coaches encourage you to try several different things. My favorite strokes are the free style and the butterfly.” Being on the YMCA swim team has been a lot of fun for Paulzine. He has competed at Worthington, Austin, Mankato, in the Twin Cities, and Spencer and Spirit Lake, Iowa. “The state competition was a lot of fun. It was held at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center in Minneapolis on Valentine’s Day. It’s the coolest thing at State because when you go to swim, the scoreboard says your name,” Paulzine share. At the State competition, Paulzine was one of the four team members in the Stingrays’ 12 & Under Boys Medley relay team who earned fourth place. The team was comprised of Paulzine, Bryan Doeden, Eli Gaul, and Levi Blanchard. Other than the collection of ribbons and medals, Paulzine is very wise about the other benefits he is receiving from swimming. He said, “I have made a lot of friends - especially on my swim team. And I know that swimming is making my bones strong, keeping me healthy, and helping my hip to feel better.” |
©Fulda Free Press 2010