I am excited to let you know that Willie, the puppy who Wendy worked with as a Southeastern puppy-in-training from August 2019 to October 2020, has been placed with her forever person. This placement means Willie is well on her way to becoming a Southeastern Guide Dog in a few weeks. I hope Willie will … Continue reading Willie’s Good News
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Blind Ability Podcast
After listening to the Blind ability’s podcast titled “the Unified English Braille (UEB) Practice Sentences – Comprehensive, Ready to Use and Fun.”, I spoke with Roberta Becker As Roberta mentioned in the podcast she is not out to push her book but want to assist people learning to read Braille. Since it has been over … Continue reading Blind Ability Podcast
Mike Royal Audio Slalom Highlights
Let me give a huge shout out to my daughter, Taylor, for capturing this exciting footage from the 2019 IWWF World Disabled Water Ski Championships. She also added audio description, closed caption, and the following transcript to make the video more accessible. https://youtu.be/jB6LSutMtAc YouTube https://youtu.be/jB6LSutMtAc On the video there are two voices, Tony Lightfoot and Taylor … Continue reading Mike Royal Audio Slalom Highlights
World Record Ratified
The International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation (IWWF) ratified my pending World Slalom Record from the 2019 Disabled World Championships with a score of 5.50/58/12.00 which is a New World V1 Men’s Slalom Record. Thank you to the organizers and all who volunteered at the World Championships, the IWWF for their review, and everyone else who supported me through the … Continue reading World Record Ratified
100.3 The Bull Breakfast
The country station Wendy always has on in the boat was handing out breakfast at a Whataburger we drive by on the way to work. So, we had to stop by and grab some food. We also took the opportunity to introduce Subi to 100.3 The Bull’s morning DJs, George, Mo and Cowboy Dave. Cowboy … Continue reading 100.3 The Bull Breakfast
Audio Slalom Video
In case the below photo of me skiing is not enough for you, here is the link to the Water Ski Broadcasting Company produced 2019 World Disabled Water Ski Championships video. You can watch me skiing between 3:52:49 - 4:04:49 and the podium presentation starts at 8:33:58. Photo by Mike's daughter, Taylor Royal.
Successful World Championships
The USA Adaptive Water Ski Team won the gold medal at the 14th Barbara Bolding/Jim Grew Fund Disabled Water Ski World Championships, July 25-28, in Skarnes, Norway. I won the gold medal in Vision Impaired Men slalom (5.50/58/12.00), my slalom score skied in the finals ties the existing World Record. I also won the bronze … Continue reading Successful World Championships
First Time Water Skier
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to help Nick learn to ski…never mind Nick is a 12-year old boy who is blind. Check out the video and you will hear Nick’s dad is as excited as Wendy and me as Nick takes a pass down the lake. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCJGMIeuNSI
Good Luck Mystery!
Taylor took a one-second video all 376 days we had Mystery our second Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) puppy-in-training. The video shows pictures of Mystery from 10 weeks old about 15 months old. Mystery is back at GDB starting guide dog training. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twK_sf1kZ1A
Belly Flops
Over 100 of my Anadarko co-workers who attended a Lunch & Learn where me and my family presented our experiences while using a guide dog and raising a puppy-in-training for a guide dog school were given a bag of Belly Flops. It took over 25 pounds of Belly Flops to create the individual bags. About … Continue reading Belly Flops
