Corbiere Battles Back - Again
By Gary Wynn
February 1, 1991
February 1, 1991
When you walk around the pool area at Weston High School, it is impossible not to notice the word "ICE" on the back of everyone's T -shirt. Ask members of the swim team and you find out the acronym stands for Involvement, Commitment and Excellence. Ask a few more questions and you wonder if the slogan wasn't coined for junior Payson Corbiere.
A Dual County League all-star last season, Corbiere has shown outstanding determination throughout his career in overcoming a bothersome shoulder problem and hemophilia, an uncommon blood disease. This guy is obviously special because he's such a tough little bugger," said veteran Weston swim coach Pete Foley recently. A lot of times he won't tell me how bad he's hurting and I just have to chase him away from the pool." Corbiere's attitude toward his bothersome right shoulder and his blood disorder are examples of how adversity can sometimes spark determination, not despair.
His shoulder problems began in eighth grade. Eventually, the pain during swim workouts became so bad, he was referred to Dr. Arthur Pappas, who is widely known as part-owner and team doctor of the Red Sox. Pappas, who does a lot of work with young athletes, operated on Corbiere and then helped guide him through rehabilitation. "I was a basket case," Corbiere said of his days on the mend. "It was the first time in my life I wasn't able to swim. The most important thing for me was to get back so I could swim in the fall."
Under Pappas' supervision, Corbiere recovered in time to swim for Weston as a freshman and he was voted the team's outstanding first-year swimmer. Last season, his time in the 100 butterfly (56.0) put him among the top swimmers in the state. He also excelled in the 200 individual medley. But, this past fall, he stretched ligaments in the shoulder. Once again, he turned to Dr. Pappas for direction.
Corbiere is back with the Weston team but he is not the swimmer he was a year ago. Because of his shoulder, he's been limited to swimming in the 50 freestyle and on the school-record setting 200-yard freestyle relay team. Despite his size - 5 foot-5, 122 pounds - and the fact that the 50 freestyle is usually for bigger, power swimmers, Corbiere has provided depth behind Weston's outstanding swimmer, Alex Fraser, and has helped the Wildcats to a 14-1 record. "Payson takes a backseat to no one," said Foley. "He has the shoulder and it's compounded by the hemophilia. But he just hangs in there."
"It (the recent shoulder injury) just made me more determined," said Corbiere. "I easily could have given up, but there's not many other sports I could do because of the hemophilia, so it made me want to come back and swim even more." Hemophilia is a disease in which a person's blood does not clot normally, a condition that causes abnormal bleeding and bruising. As a result, Corbiere must stay away from contact sports. Even so, bruises caused by bumping into things - collisions that would mean merely a bump for the rest of us - has caused Corbiere to miss workout time over the years.
In typical Corbiere style, all of this is a mere blip on a radar screen. "It doesn't really affect me," he said. "I just have to be more careful than other people. I can get bad bruises if I get hit or if I bang something. I have to stay away from contact sports and I have to try to avoid risking injury. Basically I do what I want and if I get hurt I pay the price, but I don't sit around and make excuses for what I can't do or feel sorry for myself. If I bang my heel on a turn in the pool, I may limp around for a few days but I just take my medicine and live with it."
By medicine, Corbiere doesn't mean two aspirin: He gives himself medication intravenously; twice a week.
While rounding into shape for the season, Corbiere has stayed with the team, running and working with weights and spends his extra time helping the coaches. Foley recalled that recently Corbiere noticed a flaw in a teammate's style and helped correct it.
But, nothing will satisfy Corbiere more than when he's back at full strength. "I want to do a lot of work over the summer: ...strengthening and conditioning," he vowed. "I want to come back next fall and have the best season of my life."
A Dual County League all-star last season, Corbiere has shown outstanding determination throughout his career in overcoming a bothersome shoulder problem and hemophilia, an uncommon blood disease. This guy is obviously special because he's such a tough little bugger," said veteran Weston swim coach Pete Foley recently. A lot of times he won't tell me how bad he's hurting and I just have to chase him away from the pool." Corbiere's attitude toward his bothersome right shoulder and his blood disorder are examples of how adversity can sometimes spark determination, not despair.
His shoulder problems began in eighth grade. Eventually, the pain during swim workouts became so bad, he was referred to Dr. Arthur Pappas, who is widely known as part-owner and team doctor of the Red Sox. Pappas, who does a lot of work with young athletes, operated on Corbiere and then helped guide him through rehabilitation. "I was a basket case," Corbiere said of his days on the mend. "It was the first time in my life I wasn't able to swim. The most important thing for me was to get back so I could swim in the fall."
Under Pappas' supervision, Corbiere recovered in time to swim for Weston as a freshman and he was voted the team's outstanding first-year swimmer. Last season, his time in the 100 butterfly (56.0) put him among the top swimmers in the state. He also excelled in the 200 individual medley. But, this past fall, he stretched ligaments in the shoulder. Once again, he turned to Dr. Pappas for direction.
Corbiere is back with the Weston team but he is not the swimmer he was a year ago. Because of his shoulder, he's been limited to swimming in the 50 freestyle and on the school-record setting 200-yard freestyle relay team. Despite his size - 5 foot-5, 122 pounds - and the fact that the 50 freestyle is usually for bigger, power swimmers, Corbiere has provided depth behind Weston's outstanding swimmer, Alex Fraser, and has helped the Wildcats to a 14-1 record. "Payson takes a backseat to no one," said Foley. "He has the shoulder and it's compounded by the hemophilia. But he just hangs in there."
"It (the recent shoulder injury) just made me more determined," said Corbiere. "I easily could have given up, but there's not many other sports I could do because of the hemophilia, so it made me want to come back and swim even more." Hemophilia is a disease in which a person's blood does not clot normally, a condition that causes abnormal bleeding and bruising. As a result, Corbiere must stay away from contact sports. Even so, bruises caused by bumping into things - collisions that would mean merely a bump for the rest of us - has caused Corbiere to miss workout time over the years.
In typical Corbiere style, all of this is a mere blip on a radar screen. "It doesn't really affect me," he said. "I just have to be more careful than other people. I can get bad bruises if I get hit or if I bang something. I have to stay away from contact sports and I have to try to avoid risking injury. Basically I do what I want and if I get hurt I pay the price, but I don't sit around and make excuses for what I can't do or feel sorry for myself. If I bang my heel on a turn in the pool, I may limp around for a few days but I just take my medicine and live with it."
By medicine, Corbiere doesn't mean two aspirin: He gives himself medication intravenously; twice a week.
While rounding into shape for the season, Corbiere has stayed with the team, running and working with weights and spends his extra time helping the coaches. Foley recalled that recently Corbiere noticed a flaw in a teammate's style and helped correct it.
But, nothing will satisfy Corbiere more than when he's back at full strength. "I want to do a lot of work over the summer: ...strengthening and conditioning," he vowed. "I want to come back next fall and have the best season of my life."
