 I'm Rusty Komori and this is Beyond the Lines on Think Tech, Hawaii. I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years, and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My books Beyond the Lines and Beyond the Game are about leadership, character, and creating a superior culture of excellence, which is what this show is all about. My special guest today suffered a devastating ski accident, breaking his back, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down, but that has not stopped him one bit from pursuing sports and enjoying life. He is super sportsman, Peter Hirshorn, and today we are going beyond paralysis. Hey, Pete, welcome to Beyond the Lines. Hey, thanks, Rusty, for having me. It's been a little while since you've been sailing with us on illusion. Well, Pete, you know, I have to say that being on your boat, the illusion for a number of times, I mean, we've had so many fun experiences together and I'm super excited looking forward to our next adventure together on illusion. And Pete, I know that you grew up in Montreal, Canada, but can you tell me about some of the sports you played growing up? Well, when I grew up, I was doing a lot of gymnastics. I played baseball, football, and did a lot of horseback riding, dirt biking, and at a very young age, we started playing ice hockey. It's the number one sport in Canada. Well, I know that ice hockey is, yeah, like you said, it's super popular in Canada and that's a rough and tough sport, right? Yes, it is. I played goalie for our high school team and one time I got a slap shot and I made the save but it was with my face as it hit me right above the eye and I was wearing a face mask and it came in at just the right angle to cause me to be bleeding all over the ice. I had no idea that something was wrong and they called me to the side and the coach said, we got to take you to the hospital because you know, a lot of stitches. Wow, man, Pete, that's why that's a rough and tough sport. And then you got into skiing competitions and what did you like about, you know, how did you get into doing flips and aerials? Well, when I moved to Aspen, they had Contest and Stein Erikson who was the head of the ski school at Snowmass. He started doing flips and doing demonstrations and then when I was working at Aspen Highlands, these guys were teaching these people how to do flips and a lot of them were falling and I said, I asked if I could try it and they said, sure but I want to borrow their skis as they have special bindings and it made it safer. So they lent me their skis, I went up and I did my first flip, I landed and the binding fell off, we adjusted it and I asked if I could try it again and they said, sure. I went and did it again, landed it perfectly and realized, hey, this is fun, I'm hooked. I mean, my gymnastic background, I knew exactly where my body was in the air all the time. So that was the start of my skiing and freestyle career. Pete, I find it interesting how, you know your gymnastics experience early on really added and helped, you know, your skiing abilities and I want to know, Pete, can you share with me what happened on that day of the ski accident? Well, the organizers had the freestyle skiing at Steamboat on a run called White Out because it's very heavily mogul and at the bottom of the run, they sort of flattened it out and they flattened out the landing and at the bottom of any ski run, it's not very steep and when you have a jump, you really want a super steep landing and it was fairly flat compared to today's standard. After the first round of competition, I was in fourth place, had about 100 people competing in the world championships and on my second run, I was doing a double back summer self, laid out with a spread eagle and I only made it one and a half times around, landed on my back and was unconscious and woke up with a broken back. Well, Pete, can you tell me what happened there? I know that you had told me before that a helicopter came to take you once that accident happened. Yes, they flew me out in a helicopter to Denver and because of the snowstorm, it crash landed in the way to Denver and they had to fly me out in another helicopter to get me to the hospital and the only reason I know this was because I got two bills while I was in the hospital. Oh, Pete, oh my goodness. Now, what happened, Pete, when the doctor told you that you broke your back and that you were paralyzed from the waist down? Well, I told the doctor that nobody tells me what I can do and I didn't like the fact that he told me I'd never walk again and when I got out of the hospital, I went through therapy. I finished therapy in four days and went to Europe for four months and then when I came back, I learned how to walk with leg braces and crutches and did that pretty much for about 43 years. I used to get around everywhere on my crutches. I was never seen out at night or anywhere in Honolulu in a wheelchair. Pete, I know that Europe trip was very important for you. Can you tell me why and what happened on that trip to Europe? Well, to begin with, before I left, my girlfriend had broken up with me. It was difficult for her to see me in a wheelchair and I didn't understand that at the time but when I went to Europe and found myself on the beaches in Southern France, when I'd get out of my wheelchair, I'd be lying on my towel and if I smiled at a girl or someone, they'd come over and talk to me. They treated me like a normal person and that really built my self-esteem and confidence. I never thought a girl would ever talk to me again. Wow, so Pete, that's so good that, I mean, that's why that trip was so important, how you said you built your self-esteem and your self-confidence again so now you've been in a wheelchair for 47 years. How tough has it been for you during these 47 years? Well, mentally it's been very tough. I've been discriminated against since the time I got out of the hospital and I was in a wheelchair. My first recollection is my friend took me to a movie and when we bought tickets and we were standing in line, the manager came by and said, we couldn't go in, it's a fire regulation that wheelchairs are not allowed in the movie theater at night. And so we went home and I was crying and the next day we called the fire department only to find out there is no such regulation. They just didn't want wheelchairs around. So my friend went back and bought a couple tickets and then I showed up and we stood in line and the manager said, I'm sorry, you can't come in. And I looked at him and I said, try and stop me. And he said, he'll call the police. I said, be my guest, I'm going in. And we went in and then that was in the beginning and I'm teen years later, I'm on my honeymoon with my wife, we're on a cruise ship where everything's included. We end up in Rome and they tell me, I can't go to the Vatican, the Colosseum, two of the most spectacular places in the world. They said, wheelchairs aren't allowed there. So I just hired my own car, went there with my wife and when we got there, we found out they had lied and to go in the Vatican in a wheelchair, we have a special entrance. There is no lines to wait in, it's a VIP tour and there's no charge. And then when we went to the Colosseum, there's an elevator for wheelchairs. And everywhere we went in Europe, people were friendly and very accommodating. But the organizers weren't, they discriminated against the wheelchair. And when we went to Paris, they said we couldn't go to the Eiffel Tower that there were no more tickets. And we went there, found out we didn't even need a ticket. It was free for a wheelchair and a companion. And we had a wonderful time, but dealing with people telling you no, no, no, all the time is very frustrating. When I wanted to join the yacht club, the Commodore said I couldn't become a member. And I said, why? He said, well, if you turn your boat over, can you ride it by yourself? And I said, no. But then again, can you ride it by yourself? And he said, well, of course I can, but I know how to swim. And I looked at him and I said, I never thought of that. So I pulled a $100 bill out of my wallet and I said, I'll bet you $100 to my one that I can out swim you. I became a member of the yacht club. Literally I have to fight for every little thing all the time. It never ends. Well, Pete, I find you super inspiring and there's a quote that I've told my players before that life is not about how hard you can hit, but how much you can get hit and keep moving forward. And that's why, I mean, for that reason and many others, I mean, I just find you super inspiring. And I wanna talk a little bit about your incredible racing boat, The Illusion. Now, what is it about sailing that you love so much? It puts me on an equal playing field with anybody else who has no disabilities. It's total freedom. I can get on the boat, we leave the dock, we can sail to Maui, we can sail around the island. And I'm the same as anybody on the boat. I race against people and I'm the only one disabled that I'm racing against. I'm not competing on the Paralympic level or the handicap level. I'm competing with able-bodied people and everything that I do. That's what you love so much, right, Pete? About everything that you do, you wanna be treated equally like everyone else, right? Correct. Now, Pete, what records do you hold with your racing boat, The Illusion? Well, the Memorial Day race is a three-day race around Oahu. And we hold the record in seven hours, 45 minutes and 13 seconds. And the largest, most exciting race is Maui to Honolulu on Labor Day. And we also hold that record. Yeah, that's amazing. And being on the boat with you, I mean, we are flying. We are flying and we are getting wet. And it's amazing how fast it goes. And it's so much fun. And Pete, I know that you have my books and I wanna talk to you a little bit about it. What stood out to you in my books? Well, Rusty, I love your books. You talk about focus and you have this incredible focus. I remember, you have great stories. I mean, your story about when you got a blister in a competition and you retired from the tennis match and your coach came down on you really hard. It reminded me when I was racing from Maui to Oahu, the conditions were 25 to 30 knots, seven, eight foot seas. And in the middle of the Molokai Channel, we stuffed the bowels and myself and another crew member ended up falling off the boat. And a couple of seconds later, I'm looking and I get hit from the back and I thought, why is my friend hitting me? And I look around and he's 10 feet away and the wave had knocked me underwater. And then when I came up, I look up and my boat is sailing off at 20 plus knots with nobody steering it. Fortunately, I had really good crew on the boat and my good friend Danny McFerrin got the spinnaker down, the jib rolled up and they got the boat turned around and Fitz was driving and they came back and picked us up. And as soon as we got back on the boat, everybody was saying, oh man, we got to relax here. And I'm going, no, there's no relaxing. It's total focus now. We're still in the middle of a race. It's still blowing 25 knots. It's still seven tape foot seas. We need to focus and we are racing. We ended up finishing second in that race. I like hearing that, Pete. Yeah, it's all about present focus and mindset. And I want to ask you, Pete, I talk a lot about welcoming adversity and looking forward to challenges, but what are your thoughts about it? I never really thought about welcoming adversity or challenges. I do things because I enjoy them. I remember when my friend who I skied with, Kurt Baker, asked me to go kayaking and I told him, I'd do him a favor and let him teach me how to kayak as long as I could teach him how to sail. And he said, sure. So I went through three weeks of lessons with all the beginners from beginner, intermediate and advanced. And then we did a quick trip down the green river. At the end of that, he was running an expedition down the Grand Canyon. And one of the other guys in my class said he wanted to go. And I looked around to Kurt and I said, well, if he's going, I want to go. There's no difference in him and me other than the fact I didn't know that besides he was learning how to kayak, he was a river guy and been down the Grand many, many times. And the rivers that we had been kayaking, the largest river had maybe three, four foot waves. And the Grand Canyon has waves up to 20 feet like in lava falls. So it was a pretty exciting trip. And when we went down to the put-in, the river guy running the trip looked at me in a wheelchair and he said, I've never had anybody in a wheelchair go down the Grand. And you have to sign a waiver that if it's dangerous, we'll fly you out in a helicopter and it'll cost you $2,000 for your safety. So I said, sure. And when we got to Travertine Falls, which is the next rapid after lava, which drops about 36 feet with 20 foot waves in it. And so one of the first rapids I made it through right side up. We got to Travertine Falls and I went in and did a ender, which is where the boat goes end over end. And then I did a pirouette where you drive the nose into the hole, it throws you up in the air and you do a full twist and then up right side up going downstream. When I pulled into the eddy, the river guy jumped into his kayak and went into the same hole and panicked and came out of his boat. He was swimming and I had to go paddle and rescue him and bring him to the shore. And then I said to him, hey, I think we need to get a helicopter here to fly you out because you might not be safe on this trip. A little irony because he only tried to do a couple of rolls and panicked. Pete, I love that. That's the irony of that situation there. And I want to ask you, Pete, I know you've done a lot of scuba diving but what's the best experience you've had scuba diving? Well, I was diving on the barrier reef of Australia up in Port Douglas at the cod hole and we were looking at all these huge fish and I decided to swim off by myself and about 15 minutes later, I feel a bump on my shoulder. I figured it was the dive master telling us to come back and go up. Well, I turned and I'm looking into the face of a 350 pound potato cod. He stared at me and I started swimming beside him and I was swimming so hard my bubbles were going sideways instead of up to try and keep up to him. It was an incredible experience. I'm communicating with sea life. Wow. Now, Pete, I know that you also you're doing cycling as well. What is it about cycling that you love? Number one, it's great exercise to be out in nature and now with my new bike, I can ride anywhere and have total freedom just like I did in the ocean. I ride with people that are expert riders and it's just incredible to go up to Makapu Lighthouse for the first time and see it from the top rather than sailing around it for over 30 times. It was just incredible. Total freedom and equality. I'm equal with anybody on a bike. Now, I find that amazing, Pete, because I know you live in the Alamoana area and you're cycling from there all the way to Makapu and back and is it dangerous going there and coming back? It can be a little dangerous. Fortunately, a few, but a month ago, I met a guy named Jeff and we weren't planning to go there. We were just going out to Cocoa Head on Clanianioli which is fairly safe. The bike lane's quite wide and this guy couldn't believe that I could pass him and we were racing all the way down Clanianioli till we got to Cocoa Head where he turned off and I decided to follow him and I caught up to him when we started talking and he said he was gonna go to Makapu and I asked him if we could join him and he said, sure. And when we were biking, I found out from my wife, Naomi, that when he was behind me, he would protect me. He would make sure the cars couldn't come anywhere near me and when it got to be too narrow, like going over Hanama Bay, we took over the entire road because we're not holding up traffic when we're doing 25 or 30 miles down that hill and we're already ahead of the cars and at Sandy Beach. So, but anytime it comes anywhere close to his shoulder, he would ride behind me and keep cars away from me because he's much higher up and more visible than I am because I'm very low to the ground and that was really amazing. I love hearing that, Pete, and I wanna get this straight. So, in 1973, you were in a ski competition and then in 1974, you were in a hobby cat sailing competition. Well, in 1973, I was skiing in the World Freestyle Skiing Championships. And in 1974, I was skiing, I was sailing in the Hoby 16 National Championships in San Diego. That's incredible, Pete. And I know you've told me before that you're the first paralyzed person to do what now in some categories? Well, I was the first paralyzed person ever to kayak the Grand Canyon, dive the Barrier Reef of Australia and race Catamaran in national competition. Oh, Pete, I love it. And, you know, looking back on your life so far, what do you see is, what is a valuable lesson you've learned? Not to be envious of other people. I've seen people that have a lot of power, movie stars, they have fame, money and being super happy. I am incredibly happy with my wonderful wife Naomi who we do almost everything together. We don't have to compromise. Everything I enjoy doing from kayak, from sailing, the boating, the biking, the scuba diving, she does it all with me and everything that she wants to do, I do it all with her. We have a great time together and happiness every day is really fantastic. You know, Pete, I know your wife Naomi and you both are absolutely incredible together. And I wanna ask you about leadership. Who is a leader that you admire? Well, Rusty, besides you, I, Randy Smythe who's a two-time civil medalist in the Catamarans has sailed with me for many, many years. And I've learned a lot of lessons about being involved in competitions where people make mistakes and you don't focus on the mistakes. You focus on recovering from your errors to win the competition or win the race. So as a, Pete, as a leader on your boat, for example, what do you feel the best leaders do? The best leaders take total responsibility. When someone makes a mistake on the boat or does something wrong, the captain is responsible because you've allowed that person to do that job. You thought he was capable. If he wasn't capable, it's your fault. So you can't shift the blame to anybody but yourself for anything that happens when you're captain on a ship. I love how you said that about, you know, taking accountability, taking responsibility. And I know that we've talked before about how you also try to prepare for anything and everything that could potentially happen on the high seas, right? Yes, before we go out, we usually have a crew meeting, give everybody their assigned jobs. Most of them, when I'm racing, know how to do every job on the boat and we inform them of the conditions, we tell them what could happen. So it's not a last minute thing. They're prepared for all the circumstances that might happen and you can't prepare for everything but they're very aware of the conditions. Yeah, and it's all about controlling everything that you can control to the best of your ability and really not worrying about things beyond your control. And Pete, I want to ask you, what is a future goal of yours or something that you want to do but you just haven't been able to do it yet? Well, I really am trying to see if I can arrange a trip to the Galapagos which is very, very difficult as the water is very cold and finding a wheelchair accessible live aboard at the moment doesn't exist, but I'm working on it and it's one of the extreme places to go diving just as we dove in Fakarava and my wife and I dove with the head of the resort and we were swimming with six or 7,000 sharks of all kinds in Fakarava. And there's another trip we might plan to Sikoro which might be a little more accessible and it's also a lot of very big animals from tiger sharks to big manta rays. It's incredible. Diving in the ocean is again, total freedom and it's like a movie going in front of you. You always see interesting things. And Pete, you and your wife Naomi, you guys have scuba dived with sharks before, right? Yes, we've dove with in Fakarava almost everywhere you go you see sharks but in Fakarava which is in Polynesia it's an hour and 20 minutes from Tahiti they have a place called the Southern Pass where six or 7,000 sharks live there all the time and it was documented by National Geographic. Wow, I love hearing that Pete. And Pete, before we wrap up I wanna ask you one more question. What advice do you have for people? Well, time is not refundable and life is not a spectator sport. You have to believe in yourself and just never give up. If you set a goal, never quit till you've accomplished it. I love that, Pete. And Pete, again, I gotta say you are such an inspiration to myself and many other people that I know and I really wanna thank you for taking time to be on the show today and really share your insights. It's really been a pleasure. I'm honored to be one of your guests. Thank you so much. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on ThinkTek Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKomori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I hope that Peter and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.