People in wheelchairs can now fish with their feet in the water thanks to $50k in donations
It’s been 37 years since Louis Swift first envisioned how people in wheelchairs could experience the angler’s joy of casting a fishing line while wading in the water. Now, Louis’ vision has become a reality.
On Saturday, June 7, at Outdoor Buddies Family Day at Colorado Youth Outdoors, the first participants who use wheelchairs cast their rods into Bluegill Pond, located at 4927 East County Road 36 in Fort Collins, after cutting the ceremonial ribbon. It’s believed that this is the first dock in the nation where they can feel the water on their feet.
In 1988, Louis first submerged a metal I-beam frame in a fishing pond on his family’s land south of Fort Collins. As planned, the beam would support a dock that rests beneath the pond’s surface, allowing anglers in wheelchairs to place their feet in the water. Over the years, the dock project stalled, and the land and the pond eventually came into the possession of Colorado Youth Outdoors — fulfilling Louis’ wish (he died in 2003) that the ground be used for youth education.
Swift Ponds was donated to CYO in 2008. “This year – through gifts of time and money from JE Dunn, 1888 Industrial Services, ETC Contracting, Connell Resources, and A-Concrete – CYO staff finalized the dock, deck, and water control structure to raise or lower the water level,” explained Luke Brough, CYO’s Northeast Executive Director. “This will allow the dock to be submerged or stay dry when desired. The one-of-a-kind dock Louis Swift envisioned has come to life.”
“The new Bluegill dock is a great place for those learning to cast for the first time, shared Ken Brink, CYO’s lead fly fishing instructor. “When you’re standing in the middle of a pond, your cast doesn’t have to go very far to be successful. Plus, no trees to hook on the back cast!”
For the Swift family, the CYO’s commitment to complete the dock, thanks in no small part to generous donations from multiple businesses, is a dream come true. Louis’ son Chase believes there are “a lot of great things happening at Swift Ponds with everyone working together for the same positive goal.”
Louis’s goal to support people with special needs is one of the reasons he joined the board of directors of Outdoor Buddies, an organization founded in 1984. Larry Sanford, president of Outdoor Buddies, shares, “When you’re in a wheelchair, you see things and think, ‘I wish I could do that.’ At some point, you stop wishing. This dock is someone listening to those wishes and saying that there is a way!”
