Bobby Norman wins gold at Wounded Warriors trials, swam with one arm

Bobby Norman wins gold at Wounded Warriors trials
By Matt Montgomery
mathew.montgomery@news-star.com
Posted Feb 27, 2012
SHAWNEE, Okla.

Robert "Bobby" Norman from Dale, took first place in the swimming competition, Feb. 21, at the Wounded Warriors 2012 Marine Corps Trials at Camp Pendleton , Calif.. His gold medal guarantees him a trip to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. at the end of April for the Wounded Warriors Games.

Shawnee resident and United States Marine Corps Sgt. Bobby Norman recently won the gold medal in the 50-meter free-style swimming event for the Wounded Warriors trials last week at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, Calif. He will be competing the first week of May in the Wounded Warriors competition in Colorado Springs, Colo., where all of the branches of the United States military will face-off and compete head-to-head.

Norman was born in California, but moved to Oklahoma and grew up in Dale, where he played baseball for the Pirates and won a couple of state championships along the way.

After graduating high school, he decided to fall into the footsteps of his father and grandfather and enlist in the United States military. He said he chose the Marine Corps because that was considered by many to be the toughest branch of the military, and according to him, he is the type of person who believes in doing something that is going to challenge him and make him work hard for something.

Norman was in a motorcycle accident Aug. 12, 2007 that left his left arm paralyzed. After several nerve graphs, where they look nerves from the back of each of his legs to try to replace the damaged ones in his arms, no progress was being made and his arm was still immobile. He eventually made the decision to have his left arm amputated below the elbow in August 2011.

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