Charley Nordin | |
Nationality: | American |
Birth Date: | 16 August 1997 |
Hometown: | Alameda, California, U.S. |
Height: | 6'8" |
Sport: | Rowing |
Event: | PR3 coxed four |
Charley Nordin (born August 16, 1997) is an American rower. He represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.[1] According to an interview with Charley, he suffered an accident during his junior year of high school that ended his athletic career in Track & Field due to losing his right calf and gluteal muscles.
“We were out at a lake and I was on a rope swing,” Nordin said. “It was a rope swing I’d gone on 100 times before. It was something I’d always done. Before I made it out over the cliff, like over the water, the rope snapped and I fell, and instead of falling into the water, I fell onto the shore. I had burst fractures in my L3, L4, and L5 vertebrae. As they burst out it partially severed my spinal cord so I have pretty severe nerve damage to my right leg.”[2]
He started his rowing career as a novice walk on at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington.
Nordin represented the United States in the mixed coxed four event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and won a silver medal.[3]