Some weekends feel like coverage.
This one felt like stepping into a story already in motion.
I was at American Dream with the Challenged Athletes Foundation, documenting a two day run that moved from surfing Saturday night to skiing Sunday morning. Same building, completely different environments, connected by a shared purpose.
Every athlete who took part in these sessions was living with some form of physical disability or limb loss. That is where the story begins, but it is not where it stays.
Saturday night, we were in the water.
Liv Stone Champion in the Lineup, Coach in the Moment
The wave pool carried that constant rhythm. Water moving, voices echoing, energy building with every set.
Liv Stone, a three time Para Surf World Champion, was not there to put on a performance. She was in the water with the athletes, working alongside them. Positioning boards. Reading the timing of the waves. Offering quick, precise guidance right before the moment that matters.
There is a quiet authority that comes from winning at the highest level. You can see it in how she reads the water, how she anticipates movement before it happens. But what made her presence stand out was how she translated that experience for others.
A small adjustment.
A better angle.
A little more confidence.
And suddenly someone is riding longer, standing taller, or realizing they can do it at all.
But she was not alone in building that momentum.
The surf instructors from Skudin Surf American Dream were right there in the water as well, working hand in hand with the athletes. Constant encouragement, hands on guidance, and a deep understanding of how to adapt each approach to the individual in front of them.
They read the room the same way they read the waves.
Patient when needed. Energetic when it counted. Always present.
By the end of the session, it was not about how many waves anyone caught.
It was about how many people left believing they could come back and do it again.
A few hours later, everything changed.
Same building. Different world.
Andrew Kurka Precision Built on the World Stage
Sunday morning brought us to Big SNOW American Dream, where winter took over.
Cold air. Packed snow. A completely different pace.
Andrew Kurka did not surf the night before. This is where he operates.
A Paralympic alpine skier with multiple medals at the highest level, including podium finishes at the Winter Paralympic Games and World Championships, Andrew has built his career on precision and speed.
In his custom sit ski, engineered by Toyota Racing Development, every movement is intentional. There is no wasted motion. Each turn is calculated and clean.
Watching him ski feels different. You are not reacting to what happens. You can feel that he already knows.
And just like the night before, the environment did not run itself.
The team at Big SNOW American Dream played a huge role in making the session work. From helping athletes get properly set up in specialized equipment to keeping the flow of the slope safe and accessible, their presence was constant.
They were not just operating a facility.
They were actively supporting each athlete’s experience, making sure everyone had the space and confidence to take their turn on the snow.
That kind of support is easy to overlook, but it is essential.
Kelly Worrell Athlete First, Architect Always
Behind everything was Kelly Worrell, Senior Program Manager at the Challenged Athletes Foundation, but that title only tells part of the story.
Kelly is an elite paratriathlete who has been competing since 2018 across Development Series, national, and international races. She has competed around the world, including Yokohama, Japan and Devonport, Australia.
Her results place her among the top in her class, with a national ranking of third and an international ranking of sixth in the PT4 category. Across 16 starts, she has earned 10 podium finishes, including a win at a Paratriathlon World Championship Series race in Yokohama in May 2022.
She has been recognized as USA Triathlon Female Paratriathlon Development Athlete of the Year, won the overall Development Series title, received the USAT Women’s Committee Leadership Award, and serves as a USAT Foundation Ambassador. She has also been part of the Dare2tri Elite Team for multiple years and was recognized by the Global Foundation for Sports as an Athlete in Excellence.
Triathlons are built on transitions. Different demands, different environments, all connected by the ability to adapt without losing focus.
This entire weekend carried that same idea.
From a wave pool Saturday night to a snow covered slope Sunday morning, everything required transition. And yet, it all flowed.
That is not accidental.
Kelly understands what it feels like to be the athlete stepping into something unfamiliar, adjusting in real time, and pushing forward anyway. So she builds these events in a way that removes barriers before they ever reach the participants.
She is not just organizing schedules.
She is creating an environment where athletes can focus on the experience, not the obstacles around it.
Challenged Athletes Foundation Opening Doors That Stay Open
Zoom out, and this weekend becomes part of something bigger.
CAF is built around access.
Access to equipment.
Access to coaching.
Access to opportunity.
For athletes with physical disabilities or limb loss, those things are not always guaranteed. CAF works to change that.
But what follows is not just participation.
It is progression.
You see athletes learning in real time. Building confidence. Taking risks. Falling, resetting, and going again.
From first attempts to elite competition.
Everything connects.
There was another moment that carried a different kind of weight.
During the day, the Challenged Athletes Foundation awarded four ski equipment grants to participants.
For those athletes, it meant more than just new gear.
It meant access moving forward. The ability to come back, to train, to build on what they had just started. Equipment like this is often one of the biggest barriers in adaptive sports, and in that moment, that barrier shifted.
You could feel it in the reactions. Not loud, not over the top, just real.
Because it was not about the announcement.
It was about what comes next.
Behind the Camera
My role was to capture it.
Moving between water and snow, adjusting to different conditions, chasing moments that do not repeat.
But what you end up focusing on is not just the action.
It is intention.
The way Liv leans in to help someone just before a wave arrives.
The way Andrew sets his line before dropping in.
The way instructors and staff quietly support every step along the way.
The way everything runs smoothly because Kelly has already solved the hard parts before anyone steps in.
That is where the story lives.
And for one weekend, one place held two completely different worlds and made them feel like they belonged together.
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