Skier Hails From Snowless County

Sheryl Carlton walked to the mirrored wall at the side of the 24 Hour Fitness gym, slipped into the seat of an exercise machine and began the tedious ritual of rowing to nowhere.

Pull on the handlebar, push on the footrest, over and over again, like some topsy-turvy inchworm in a T-shirt. Ten minutes, no stopping. Sharp-toned rock music over the speakers and a dribble of sweat on the temple.

But this is what you have to do when you’re a cross-country skier training in the land of eternal summer.

“It is,” admitted Carlton’s mother, Betsy Carlton, “a bit like someone from the Midwest being a champion surfer.”

On Friday, Sheryl Carlton, who was born 27 years ago with Down syndrome, embarks on a chance for global recognition. She is Orange County’s sole representative at the 1997 Special Olympics World Winter Games, which begin Sunday in Toronto and Collingwood, Ontario, about 90 miles north.

Carlton is more than a little excited.

“She’s loving this,” her mother said. “She’s eating up all this attention.”

For Carlton, the world games--which mirror the traditional Olympic Games--are the ultimate chance to show off the athletic skills she’s developed over 20 years of competitions. She won local and statewide gold medals in gymnastics, swimming and equestrian events before taking up cross-country skiing three years ago. She did so at the invitation of friend and fellow Special Olympics competitor Jenny Skinner whose mother, Marilyn Skinner, serves as cross-country skiing coach for Orange County Special Olympics.

“I like skiing,” Carlton said, ticking off the events on her fingers. “I’m doing the 100 meter, the 500 meter and the 1K. I’ve got thick muscles.”

Thick muscles are relative. At 56 inches, she is among the tiniest of the U.S. athletes.

“She was 96 pounds, but this morning she was down to 89,” her mother said. “It’s all this training. We’ve been giving her doughnuts and chocolate milk.”

As one of 133 members of the U.S. team, Carlton will join nearly 2,000 athletes from 80 countries competing for medals in Alpine and cross-country skiing, figure and speed-skating, and floor hockey. Snowshoe racing is included as a demonstration sport.

“It will be the largest multiple-sporting event in the world this year,” said Mike Janes, spokesman for Special Olympics International in Washington.

The competitions began in 1968 in Chicago, organized by Eunice Kennedy Shriver to foster athletic training for the developmentally disabled. Since then, the Special Olympics have gone global.

Only four other developmentally disabled athletes from Southern California made the national team: David Gotell, 31, of San Diego, competing in cross-country skiing; and William Cleveland, 17, of Los Angeles, Andy James, 30, of Bakersfield, and Bret Zipprian, 12, of San Diego, competing in floor hockey.

Also, two Southern California athletes who are not developmentally disabled will compete under the Unified Sports program that matches partners of similar age with Special Olympics athletes. Steve Rocha, 13, of San Diego joins Gotell on the Unified cross-country ski team. Nathan Sablan, 11, of Chula Vista joins Zipprian on the Unified floor hockey team.

Carlton learned this summer that she had made the ski team after qualifying for a drawing by winning a gold medal at the regional level. She has been in training ever since--a difficult proposition given Southern California’s climate.

Aside from a four-day training camp at Lake Placid, N.Y., in December, Carlton has been on the snow only four times this winter, in Big Bear. But a regular regimen in the gym, and on an exercise bike at the family’s Huntington Beach home, has kept up Carlton’s stamina--a critical ingredient for a cross-country skier.

And she’s had a boost from her supportive family. Her mother helps keep track of her schedule, balancing Carlton’s training with her part-time job at a Huntington Beach Carl’s Jr. Her father, Ted Carlton, a retired ARCO executive and Alpine ski coach for Special Olympics, takes her on training forays to the mountains the few times the weather permits.

But when competition time comes, Carlton is off on her own, traveling with the team and chaperons. She leaves Friday; her parents will fly to Toronto on Saturday.

“She is just so excited,” her mother said. “She’s had friends go to the other [international] games. For her, going to UCLA or Tahoe is a big thing. I don’t think it’s really hit her how many people will be there.”

Her mother expects Carlton to do well in a competition in which winning is not the only measure of success.

“She hasn’t skied for that many years, but she’ll do as well as she can do,” the mother said. “She’s learned to be a good sport. She knows that ribbons [awarded for competing] are good too, as long as you do your best.”