Opposite: the USA Sonar team of Paul Callahan, Tom Brown and Bradley Johnson racing at Weymouth in the 2012 Paralympics where they finished seventh. Left: after a 12-year absence Callahan returned to Para Sailing at this year’s US Championship where with Keith Burhans and Jen Edney they won the three-handed division, winning seven of the 10 races
early, and that’s one reason sailing is so great: when I got in a boat there were so many able-bodied people who helped me. ‘Sailing’s such a great vehicle to help
other people, and teach them great funda- mental things,’ he continues, ‘like leader- ship and teamwork and self-sufficiency and confidence. I firmly believe that so I tried to drill that into my children.’
unloading boats, all kinds of things. When I started in 1998 with disabled sailing, that was very, very much an unknown. But we as a community were certainly welcomed and had no problem. Given its basic nature. I don’t think it’s difficult for sailing to have all of the diversity, and equality, and any other word you’d like to use. That’s such a great piece of our sport.’
The next generation When I ask how Paul met his wife Alisa that trademark smile stretches even wider as he explains how she volunteered at Sail to Prevail shortly after he took over. She wasn’t a sailor; her sports were softball and basketball. But ‘she’s a good athlete, and she understands what you need to do to be successful.’ They married in 2001. In 2003 the Callahan twins were born –
and today Mitchell and Justin are well- known around the globe, even though they didn’t start sailing until the ripe old age of seven. ‘They tried all the sports,’ Paul says, adding that everyone – including Alisa – kept asking; when would Dad take them sailing? He was campaigning for the Para- lympics again, so ‘there’d be coaches at my breakfast table every morning… but I kept saying, “When they ask, that’s when. I’m not taking them sailing until they ask.”’ That finally happened in the middle of a
photoshoot for US Paralympians, when Justin crawled up onto Dad’s lap to whisper, ‘When are you going to take Mitchell and me sailing?’ And I said, “Um, right now.” We stopped the whole photoshoot and I told my coach, Jeff Madrigali, “Tell these people to go have lunch – because I’m not going to miss this moment.”’ He and Alisa took the boys out for a sail
around Newport Harbor, ‘while Jeff was on the dock pulling his hair out, trying to keep
all the media happy.’ When the sea breeze piped up enough for even the Sonar to heel over Paul headed back to the dock before anyone could get scared. ‘I said, “Boys, you’re not going to be able to hear anything because these sails are going to really start rattling pretty soon. So here’s the plan: Mom’s going to pick you up and throw you to coach Jeff.” They said OK! And that was the beginning of their sailing.’ Onboard the Sonar the twins would
stand aft of their dad and hold onto the tiller, thinking they were steering. ‘And when they moved it I would release the tension on my wrist. So it was fun.’ Even once they realised they weren’t driving the boat, ‘They just liked it!’ The Callahans spend winters in Miami
and summers in Newport, and the boys were soon dominating the USA youth circuit. At the 2017 International Optimist Regatta Mitchell beat his brother by seven points – and both finished well ahead of the other Red Fleeters, as well as helping USA win the Team Racing finals. Alisa’s a college professor so she stepped up for the three years when homeschooling was deemed their best educational option; that allowed the family to continue travelling together, even as the focus switched from Paralympic training to Optimist and 420 regattas. ‘We very much enjoyed all that,’ Paul
says. ‘The Optimist is a great learning tool. The class gets a lot of criticism, and I don’t think it’s fair. There are just different ways people approach it, and there’s a balance of how much you do for your kids. We chose to do as little as possible and made them figure it out themselves.’ And once the two boys started doing
well, he adds, ‘It was their responsibility to go around the boatpark and help the Green Fleet kids. That type of thing starts
1 + 1 = 3 There’s a saying you hear from both gener- ations of Callahan males: one plus one equals three. ‘I taught them that very early,’ Paul explains; that they’re stronger together. Chuckling, he adds, ‘And that was a debate in my household for a while, because they said, “Mum says one and one equals two!” And I said, “No, this is the long term. You’ll be much stronger together than you would be separately.”’ After the twins won the 2024 Snipe
Junior Worlds Justin told a Harvard reporter; ‘In our family we have a motto: “One plus one equals three.” When you put two of us in a boat together we feel unstoppable.’ Because, yes, the twins are both in their third year at Harvard, two reasons that school won the 2024 Colle- giate Nationals. A month later Justin teamed up with Trevor Davis (Dobbs jnr) to win the Snipe Senior US Nationals – an event requiring a totally different skillset. Then a few months after that the twins
won the US Team Racing Championship for the second year in a row. No wonder Justin recently joined his father as Sea- horse Sailor of the Month, probably the only father/son combination to appear on that illustrious list. ‘But what’s most important is that
they’re both great sportsmen,’ their dad says now, adding how much he enjoys watching them compete. ‘When they win it’s wonderful. And when they don’t win there are always lessons.’
Another Paralympics In 2012 Paul was again selected to repre- sent the US in the Sonar. Though his finish was an exact repeat of 2000 he says it was far more disappointing; a startline mistake in the last race dropping them from 2nd to 7th overall. He calls that failure ‘almost predictable’, thanks to a tricky American law that makes it very difficult to change teammates after a sporting qualification. Shaking his head, he says, ‘The only
thing I can do is pass along to my sons to be careful how you assemble your team…’ Sadly sailing was dropped from the
Paralympics after 2016. But Paul’s got some strong opinions about pathways to success – in both sailing and life.
SEAHORSE 53
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