Wounded Warriors Compete as Ultimate Champions

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Andre N. McIntyre, Expeditionary Combat Camera Public Affairs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (NNS) -- Two Navy/Coast Guard team members will represent their team and their service in the fight for the Ultimate Champion title during the 2011 Warrior Games in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 16-21.

The Ultimate Champion competition is a pentathlon – a contest featuring five different events – occurring throughout the week.

"It is a great honor to represent the Navy and my teammates as an elite competitor," said Construction Mechanic 3rd Class Aaron T. Heldreth. "I will demonstrate the fighting spirit of everyone on our team and in our Navy."

The Ultimate Champion competition events are the same for men and women, and include a 50-meter freestyle (swimming), 10-meter prone (air rifle shooting), 100-meter sprint (track), shot put (field event), and 30-kilometer ride (cycling).

"It definitely is a big deal," said retired Navy Lieutenant John C. Edmonston. "We are two people representing our entire team and trying to be crowned the Ultimate Champion. It also means that our team has faith in us to represent the Navy well."

The athletes understand the race toward the Ultimate Champion title is more than a test of physical strength; it also measures the heart of a champion.

"I am determined to push harder even when I think I am too tired to go on," said Heldreth. "I know my teammates are counting on me. My teammates would never quit, and I will not quit on them."

"We won the Ultimate Champion title last year," said Edmonston. "We would like to maintain the winning tradition, but it will be a greater challenge this year. Last year we had three athletes vying for the trophy, but this year we are down to two. The reality is that the bar of excellence has been raised. We will have to perform at the highest level, because we can't rely on another teammate to pick up the slack. With less people there are greater expectations."

"No matter what it looks like or feels like, we should always stay positive," said Heldreth. "I am ready for the challenge, because the only person that can beat me is me."

Team Navy/Coast Guard's Ultimate Champion hopefuls show no fear because they already have overcome great obstacles.

"I was in a motorcycle accident and my helmet came off," said Edmonston. "The end result was a traumatic brain injury, which is what got me in the competition. But I also had to recover from a broken back, a face broken in three places, a broken arm, and small muscle damage up and down my spine."

"I was involved in a car accident in 2008," said Heldreth. "My foot was crushed. I broke my back, and [I sustained] a lacerated liver. The police couldn't pull me out of the car when they arrived to the scene because my seatbelt was inside my stomach. It took three amputations to get my leg to where it is now (mid-calf)."

During the 2010 inaugural Warrior Games, Navy Chief Special Boat Operator Daniel Hathorn earned the title of Ultimate Champion.

The Warrior Games is a Paralympic-style sport event among 220 seriously wounded, ill, and injured service members from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.

Team Navy/Coast Guard is sponsored by Navy Safe Harbor, the lead organization for coordinating the non-medical care of wounded, ill, and injured Sailors, Coast Guardsmen, and their families. Through proactive leadership, Safe Harbor provides a lifetime of individually tailored assistance designed to optimize the success of enrollees' recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration activities.

"The Navy has done a great job of taking care of its people," said Edmonston. "Really, it is not about me, it is more about what Safe Harbor has done for me and my teammates. I have been in service for eight years and have always been proud to serve my country, but because of all that I have been through and how the Navy has helped, I am even prouder to put on that Red, White and 'Navy' Blue. HOOYAH!"