To date Young has competed in four triathlons

Does his 306 ypg intimidate youJW: No, actually, we like situations like this. We like playing against the best, thats what you sign up for.Pat Narduzzi will most assuredly have his hands full with the adjustments hell have to make regarding Potts, whats YOUR planJW: We havent really studied him much Once we do, well determine how well attack. We dont really know, well know when the time comes.How much did it mean to beat Michigan in back-to-back years, 08 and 09JW: The rivalry grows on you, being here for almost 3 years, it became more a big deal.Finally, who was the best quarterback in the Big Ten this yearJW: I cant really say, they were all pretty good In the Big Ten, they all were good, they all come to play. They're all on scholarships."(Jeremy did agree with me, however, on the fact Kirk Cousins is an NFL caliber signal-caller).There you have it, directly from the mouth of Jeremy Ware, the hardest hitting Spartan since Nehemiah Warrick. If this match-up comes to fruition, it'd put the Red Raiders of Texas Tech head-to-head with the Spartans for a duel in the Lonestar State: San Antonio style. John Young will never be able to dunk a basketball. Probably wouldn't fare very well in the high jump and more than likely will never be asked to put the star on the top of the community Christmas tree.

At 4'4" tall, there are many more "size-dependent challenges" where John Young wouldn't have a very high probability of success, either. But rather than focus on the "can't do's" in life, Young continues to prove to the naysayers, to himself, and, perhaps most importantly, to his 7-year-old son Owen, that it's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog that is important I was introduced to Young by Dick and Rick Hoyt. While doing a story on the famed father/son triathlon duo, they shared an email that Young had previously sent to them. After using the email in my story, Dick and Rick HoytModern Day Super Heroes, I was thanked by Young for acknowledging his own personal athletic endeavors. I couldn't let the opportunity pass to delve deeper into the story behind John Young A new hero was born. Young was born 43 years ago with achondroplasia, a congenital condition that affects the bodys ability to form cartilage.

The affliction, a form of dwarfism, hinders normal bone growth. Though Youngs parents and siblings are of average size, Young has lived his life with the stature of a "little person", but the heart, drive, and determination of someone three times his size. Through his refusal to accept size as a deterrent, Young has served as a school basketball coach near his previous hometown of Toronto as well as during a stint in Hong Kong, and at his current school, The Pingree School in South Hamilton, Mass., where he is also a high school mathematics teacher. He has since moved on to become Pingree's varsity swimming coach, a position that he has a pedigree for. In 1993, Young competed in the World Dwarf Games in Chicago as the sole representative of Canada. He won two gold medals swimming in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke. "I really enjoyed coaching basketball and hesitated to give it up, but in retrospect, I'm glad I made the switch", he said.

Ive always been interested in athletics, either as a fan, participant, or coach, he explains. But his latest challenge is as a triathlete, a sport where he can successfully compete against himself and his own personal times, while competing with able-bodied athletes. "I don't see myself as disabled; in fact I don't like the term", he said. "I see myself as simply differently-abled." To date, Young has competed in four triathlons. In his first event last July, the Mill City Triathlon in Lowell, Young competed in the aqua bike portion of the event.