STEFAN FLORESCU

After a stint in the United States Army, Stefan Florescu suffered a spinal cord injury from a diving accident in 1952. Over the next half century, Florescu would make a significant impact on the world of sports for the disabled. In 1960, he initiated the founding of the Michigan Paralyzed Veterans of America, and later served as that organization's president. He is also a past president of the National Association of the Physically Handicapped. A member of the National Wheelchair Sports Hall of Fame, Florescu set many standards as an athlete. In 1961, he was the first quadriplegic to compete in the annual National Wheelchair Games. An accomplished competitor in both swimming and table tennis, he was a Paralympics gold medallist in 1964, and captured the gold in the 1967 Pan-American Games. He was also the first paralyzed person to compete in the Red Cross 50-Mile Swim for Fitness, and pioneered the development of many wheelchair programs through the United State Table Tennis Association.