WHEN the Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship was the pinnacle regatta for every aspiring female, Betsy Alison and her team were annoyingly unbeatable. They won the inaugural event in 1985, and 12 years later, after winning four in a row, the original trophy was retired in Alison's name. She is the only five-time winner of the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Award, and she is the first woman inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame, part of the first class in 2011. After years of racing both with and against her, I can tell you that she practices hard, races even harder, and never, ever gives up. And in an ironic twist of fate, Alison is proving this to be true once again.
In 1998, Alison was hired to coach the US Paralympic Sailing Team. "When I started, I didn't know anything about disability," she says. "I learned on the job; I didn't have any medical training." She obviously figured it out because Team USA won at least one medal at every Paralympic Games until the sport was dropped in 2016. She continues to advocate for its inclusion because, as she once said, "It is really incredible to see what I think is an underserved group of people that are athletes, who have a competitive mind [but] don't let circumstances affect their outlook and pursuits."
In August 2022, a tumor in her left hip gave Alison what Paralympic athletes call an "acquired disability."
"I spent over 20 years coaching Paralympic and disabled sailing, Para Sailing as we call it now," she clarifies as she leans back in her wheelchair and rubs at her left leg, trying to help its blood flow. We're in her living room and home office, surrounded by memorabilia and the detritus of a busy life. "Now I'm learning how to walk again."
At first, she says, the oncologists didn't believe their own test results. "It is a rarity that you would ever see squamous cell carcinoma in the bone and muscle because it's a skin cancer."
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