May 23, 2006

By Matt Vautour, UMass Amherst Magazine

UMass Men's Swimming Coach Russ Yarworth likes to watch the spectators when freshman Mike Prout races.

"All of a sudden they'll do a double-take," Yarworth says, smiling.

As Prout gets closer, spectators realize the freestyler coming toward them has a significantly shorter right arm and only three fingers on his right hand. Then they realize he's still holding his own.

Most days, out of the pool, few will even recognize Prout's disability. In addition to his arm, he was born with a shorter right leg and misaligned hip, but now 20, Prout is hardly slowed by it.

"I can do anything normally. I adapt a little bit differently, but I don't need anything orthopedic," says the West Springfield native. "I get through the day just as easily as anybody else."

In the water, he gets through faster. He started swimming to rehabilitate and build strength after an early operation to improve his leg. But it has since turned into his passion.

He and his sister, Taryn, a freshman on the UMass women's team, began swimming at the West Springfield Park and Recreation Department. They moved on to the well-respected Aqua Bears club team in Suffield, Connecticut, at age 16 and stayed with the Bears as they prepared for college.

Prout's leg often slowed his progress. Eleven operations to improve his hip and extend his leg kept him from racing for months at a time.

"Most of the operations were when I was younger," says Prout. He was 12 when he had his leg lengthened by three inches. "I was out of the water for about 14 months. It took me a year to get back to where I had been before the operation."

But Prout kept coming back. He entered his first Paralympic event, making his debut at the National Disability Championships in Seattle.

"I always wanted to go to Seattle," says Prout, a fan of the city's grunge music scene, " because I was into Nirvana and Soundgarden. I got to go because of swimming, which was pretty cool."

He realized two things at the event. First, that swimming could create opportunities for him; second, he was really good. Prout took home six gold medals, in freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly events.

Next Prout competed at the World Disability Championships in Argentina. He didn't medal, and that motivated him. He set his sights on the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. "A lot of people don't know what the Paralympics is. They confuse it with the Special Olympics," Prout says. "The level of competition is intense. When you see some of the people and the level of disability they have, and the times they put up, it's pretty impressive."

Prout is among the most impressive. He set two World and five American Paralympic records en route to Greece; there he won a gold medal in the 400-meter freestyle and a bronze in the 100-meter freestyle.

Before Prout left for Greece, Yarworth approached him about joining the Minutemen. After more hip surgery in November 2004, Prout enrolled and began training with the Minutemen in January 2005. He spent the semester regaining his leg strength and realizing engineering wasn't for him. In the fall he switched to political science with an eye on law school and became a full-fledged member of the team.

"I was a little anxious at first," said Yarworth, who has led the Minutemen to five straight Atlantic 10 Championships. "I asked him, `what do I have to do different with you because of your arm and leg?' He said `nothing.' He came in here, and he was doing his thing right away."

Prout began competing this season and has seen his times improve. In January, against Fordham, he added to his collection of records, setting new American marks in the 500- and 1,000-meter freestyle events.

"Beijing in 2008 is my long-term goal," says Prout. "I want to get to the Paralympics and do well there, hopefully better than I did in Athens, and I was pretty happy with how I did there." Yarworth is glad to have him on board until then.

"He only has half a right arm, yet to see what he can do is amazing," says Yarworth. "I hope he can be a significant contributor at our Atlantic 10 Championships. He has the desire, the heart, and the intensity. As the guys have gotten to know Mike and watched his work ethic, it's been an inspiration."