Richard Rosenbaum
Competition | 1987
Hometown: Fort Lee, New Jersey
Richie Rosenbaum began his National Wheelchair Athletic Association sports career in 1963 at a time in the annals of wheelchair sports history when there were only three classifications – classes 1, 2 and 3. Athletes with quadriplegia like Richie were required to swim against Class 1 athletes, which created quite a challenge for him.
Because of the desire to compete by Richie and a handful of other quads, the 1A classification was created. Later, due to the diverse competition in Class 1A, the additional classifications of 1B and 1C were added as recognition of a need to make the classes more competitive. Richie ended up competing in all three classes during his sports career.
Richie had an illustrious swimming career in which he consistently placed first in the breaststroke. In international and national competitions, he would always place in the medals in the dashes, slalom and table tennis.
Richard Rosenbaum was never concerned about what classification he competed in…he just wanted to compete against the best.
