Rowers With Autism Will Compete at Prestigious Regatta in Philadelphia at End of the Month

Lisa Libertore’s son, Michael Kessaris, has autism and cannot express himself verbally. But he’s quite capable of communicating his feelings in other ways.

When Michael’s older brother, Alex, was competing for Chaminade High School’s rowing team years ago, Michael would bound into the water from the shore during regattas. It was obvious to his mother that Michael wasn’t content being a spectator, so Liberatore approached the coaches at Port Rowing, a community rowing program based in Port Washington, not far from their former home in Nassau County, and asked if they’d be open to starting an adaptive rowing program for people with autism and developmental disabilities. They agreed — and Michael took to the sport right away.

The program grew and thrived, according to Liberatore, and Michael excelled, competing at one of the largest regattas in the country — the Head of the Schuylkill, in Philadelphia — in 2014, earning a medal in a double skull with a teammate.

“Rowing became a huge part of Michael’s life,” Liberatore said.

Discovering that passion was key for Michael, who was a teenager at the time, giving him a sense of purpose and a point of pride, elements that are crucial for overall mental and emotional well-being for everyone, whether they have autism or not, whether they are able-bodied or not.

As any parent of a child with autism knows, many more obstacles exist for them when it comes to finding that passion and sense of purpose, in an unjust world where individuals with autism are held back not because they lack ability but simply because not enough people are willing to give them a chance.

It’s why, when Liberatore and her family moved to the East End several years ago, one of the first stops she made was to meet with Lee Oldak, the founder of Sag Harbor Community Rowing, to ask him if he’d consider bringing Michael and other individuals on the autism spectrum into his program. Michael had been forced to take a few years off from rowing when his former coach at Port Rowing moved on and the adaptive program there became less robust and no longer fit their needs.

In approaching Oldak, Liberatore was not only advocating for her son but for many of his peers facing the same challenges.

In 2015, Libertore and her husband, Dimitri Kessaris, started their nonprofit, Luv Michael, which is dedicated to giving people with autism opportunities for meaningful work. Four years later, the couple started another nonprofit, USAutism Homes, which works to solve the challenges many parents face as they try to find an independent living situation for children with autism as they become adults.

The foundation opened a residence home in Southampton, where Michael, 25, now lives with several peers, with appropriate caregiving support.

Both Luv Michael and USAutism Homes aim to give a sense of purpose and independence for people with autism in a number of different ways, but that model requires engagement from the broader community to succeed. Sometimes, it requires a leap of faith, one that Liberatore said Oldak and others have been willing to make.

“I have to give it to Lee,” Liberatore said, expressing her gratitude to him. “He looked at me like I had 10 heads when I first brought this to him.”

Despite any initial hesitation, and despite the fact that neither he nor others associated with the community rowing program had any experience coaching anyone with autism, Oldak embraced the idea, and it has taken off.

Michael has rediscovered his passion for rowing, and two of his peers on the autism spectrum, Eric Damon and Sheridan Basso, have taken to the sport as well. All three will compete at the Head of the Schuylkill Regatta on October 28 and 29 in Philadelphia, each with a direct support professional.

Those professionals have been the key to making it all work for Kessaris, Damon and Basso out on the water, Liberatore said.

“When I went out to speak with Lee, I asked him if he or anyone in the program had experience working with anyone with autism, and he said they didn’t,” she explained. “But he said, ‘We can train your support staff how to row so they can row with your men and women who want to row.’”

By 2021, the program was off and running. At the Head of the Schuylkill, Kessaris will compete in a double skull with Claude Saturnin, Basso will compete with Layne Johnson, and Damon will compete with Scott Rodeo.

“They work with the young men and women to try and pursue whatever passion they have,” Liberatore said of Saturnin, Johnson and Rodeo. “We had to train them at first to row, but now they have a passion for it too, and they’ve been working really hard, pretty much every day.”

Kessaris, Damon and Basso have had plenty of other support and guidance as well. Pierson High School student Miles Barrowcliffe, a talented rower who will also compete at the Head of the Schuylkill, has also been helping out with coaching, while John Breen, who hails from the Philadelphia area and has been a rowing coach for years, also makes frequents trips to the area to assist with coaching in the program.

Liberatore said the help and guidance of both Barrowcliffe and Breen has been key for several reasons. She praised Barrowcliffe for his willingness and enthusiasm, pointing out that he has a younger brother on the autism spectrum.

“Individuals who have siblings with autism tend to live and breathe that all the time, and I was concerned that he wouldn’t want to deal with that more,” Libertore said. “It’s not always easy to be the one that has to put their needs second. Miles is a pretty special individual. The guys really love him.”

Barrowcliffe explained why he has been eager to be involved.

“I wanted to be part of this because my brother is autistic and nonverbal, and I love the thought of him having access to something like this in town,” he said. “We’re lucky to be surrounded by water in Sag Harbor, and rowing has a very calming effect for the rowers, which I have seen when I’m working with them. It also provides great exercise, and it’s something I’m really passionate about.”

Breen has been key as well, not only because of his years of experience coaching rowing at a high level, but because he understands how valuable the sport can be to a wide range of people who may not be in it purely for the competitive aspect, but because of how it can enhance and improve their lives even when they’re not in a boat. Breen runs his own nonprofit, Fitness In Recovery, which “utilizes specifically designed movement sequencing as dosed-exercise to provide hedonic rehabilitation and accelerate systemic addiction and behavioral health recovery,” according to the nonprofit’s website.

While Breen’s nonprofit is geared more specifically around using exercise and movement as a way to help recovering addicts, the overarching idea that exercise and physical activity is often a key component in supporting mental health, particularly for individuals experiencing a wide range of internal or external challenges, is something Liberatore said she can relate to, because she sees what rowing has done for her son and his peers.

“Rowing changed my son,” Liberatore said. “He sleeps better, he’s more focused, he’s less agitated. That’s why it was so important for us to find a program again. It was that life-changing.”

Those life-changing elements are what has made the inclusion in the Sag Harbor Community Rowing Program such a big deal for Michael and his peers, but Liberatore also pointed out that they won’t be approaching the Head of the Schuylkill as just another day out on the water.

“Michael is so competitive and capable, as are Eric and Sheridan, and they want to win,” she said. “They’re not doing this just to paddle around in the water. They’ve really gotten their identity back.”