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  • Pacifica senior Ben Burns was born with a genetic bone...

    Pacifica senior Ben Burns was born with a genetic bone disorder in which his bones can break easily. He is a member of the school's swim team.

  • Pacifica senior Ben Burns adjust his goggles during a practice...

    Pacifica senior Ben Burns adjust his goggles during a practice with the school's swimming team.

  • Pacifica senior Ben Burns gets out of the pool after...

    Pacifica senior Ben Burns gets out of the pool after a practice. Burns was born with a genetic bone disorder in which his bones can break easily.

  • Luke Barnette, left, talks with senior Ben Burns, who was...

    Luke Barnette, left, talks with senior Ben Burns, who was born with a genetic bone disorder in which his bones can break easily. This is his fourth year on the school's swimming team.

  • Pacifica senior Ben Burns kids around with fellow swimmers after...

    Pacifica senior Ben Burns kids around with fellow swimmers after a recent practice. Burns was born with a genetic bone disorder in which his bones can break easily.

  • Tesoro senior Kami Meter, bottom, trains with other members of...

    Tesoro senior Kami Meter, bottom, trains with other members of the school's swimming team. Meter has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare and complex genetic condition.

  • Tesoro senior Kami Meter, right, takes a breather between practice...

    Tesoro senior Kami Meter, right, takes a breather between practice sets with the school's swimming team. Meter has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare and complex genetic condition.

  • Tesoro senior Kami Meter trains with other members of the...

    Tesoro senior Kami Meter trains with other members of the school's swimming team. Meter has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare and complex genetic condition.

  • Tesoro senior Kami Meter trains with other members of the...

    Tesoro senior Kami Meter trains with other members of the school's swimming team. Meter has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare and complex genetic condition.

  • Tesoro's Kami Meter has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare and complex...

    Tesoro's Kami Meter has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare and complex genetic condition that affects different areas of the body.

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Dan Albano. Sports HS Reporter.

// MORE INFORMATION: Staff Mug Shot taken August 26, 2010 : by KATE LUCAS, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER.

The bright afternoon sun reflects off the aqua blue water, briefly obscuring the oasis from a distance.

The pool at Pacifica High is filled with swimmers neatly divided between floating blue-and-white lane lines. The group navigates one lap after another with little rest, uniformly spaced by a few yards.

Somewhere among the group is Ben Burns.

“Mr. Burns,” Pacifica coach Rick Avila says of his swimmer with a chuckle. “He’s in Lane 5, uh, 4. … He’s making it.”

Burns’ broad shoulders pull his arms from the glistening water and push him forward with each well-controlled freestyle stroke. His feet flutter behind him in training fins as the grueling, two-hour workout nears a merciful end.

Burns seems hardly wiped out. The senior zips across the pool deck in his wheelchair, slips on dry clothes and quickly dives into classic teenage conversation with his teammates.

“I got my (driver’s) permit,” he beams. “I get put on my parents’ insurance today. Yes, they are not happy about it.”

Burns caps the story with a laugh, which he often does.

“He doesn’t quit,” Avila said. “If I could bottle his energy, his drive, his ganas, that desire, that’s where everybody should be.”

‘HE’S A TOUGH KID’

Burns was born with a rare genetic bone disorder commonly referred to as brittle bones. The official name is Osteogenesis imperfecta, and it makes him vulnerable to breaks.

He said he has broken almost every bone in his body, some of them multiple times. It’s quicker for him to name the bones he hasn’t broken than the ones he has.

But because of the low-impact nature of swimming, Burns found a high school sport where he can succeed.

Burns’ wheelchair sits next to a ladder at the side of the pool while he swims, which sometimes is up to 7,000 yards per day.

The Pacifica pool features a specialized lift that can assist entry to the pool, but Burns refuses to use it.

“That thing has never been used because I will find a way for me to get in and out off this pool no matter what,” he said.

Swimming means that much to Burns.

He can walk with the aid of a cane, but he has experienced so many breaks in his 18 years that he is afraid to walk. Last spring and summer, he had titanium rods placed in both of his legs.

“When I was a kid, they didn’t know that I had my disorder,” he said last season. “My parents were (falsely) accused of child abuse.”

Burns learned to swim after his family participated in the television show, “Extreme Makeover,” in 2004. The project included the addition of a pool in the family’s backyard.

“That was one of the best days of my life,” he said of learning to swim.

Burns has been swimming at Pacifica for four years. He also participates in Reserve Officer Training Program and is active in the Mormon church.

His junior season was cut short by a broken leg, but he plans to race the 200- and 500-yard freestyle at the Empire League Finals next week. As a precaution against a potential awkward fall or slip, he starts races from the wall instead of the blocks.

“He’s a tough kid,” said teammate Kevin Tran, a close friend who met Burns in ROTC.

Burns hopes to earn his varsity letter, but he already feels as if swimming has given him a lot.

“I have a lot of fun with all the people,” he said. “They’re really accepting and all that stuff. It’s like a family.”

A HEALTHY OUTLET

Kami Meter’s smile appears as she climbs from the Tesoro High pool following an afternoon practice. Dripping wet, she shyly says she and her teammates have been working on “stuff.”

“It’s fun,” she said with wide-eyed enthusiasm. “I beat my records. I used to have a minute for my (50-yard) backstroke and I (got) a 59 (seconds).”

Meter has Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare and complex genetic condition that affects different areas of the body.

She is challenged by obsessive behavior, such as hoarding and over-eating, but she has found a healthy outlet in swimming, said Sarah Snyder, her coach and teacher at Tesoro.

Snyder said swimming has improved Meter’s self-confidence and leadership skills.

Meter, who competes at the “open” level, which ranks below junior varsity and varsity, drew the loudest applause of any swimmer during a meet against visiting Dana Hills earlier this season.

“She really loves (swimming) and she tries really hard,” Snyder said of Meter, who earned a swimmer of the meet award against Dana Hills. “She’s always at practice. … It’s really cool to see her flourish.”

THE WONDERS OF WATER

USA Swimming reported in 2015 that the Southern California region has by far the most year-round members with disabilities in the United States with 206 athletes disclosing their conditions. San Diego ranked second with 76.

“(Water) is an equalizer,” longtime Foothill coach Tom DeLong said. “I feel kids can have success in swimming more so than in a lot of other activities that include gravity and weight because you’re somewhat weightless.”

Snyder said she believes pools are soothing for athletes with special needs, especially those with sensory challenges.

Meter, for example, also swims at Tesoro for physical therapy with her special needs class.

“She loves being in the water,” said Snyder, a former diver and swimmer who earned a Masters in special education at Chapman. “For a lot of kids with disabilities, especially if they have pain in their joints, it can be really nice for them to feel free and out of their body.”

Burns said he believes attitude is the most important component for swimmers with disabilities to find their own sanctuary in the pool. He found his oasis at Pacifica.

“Swimming is one of those sports that anyone can do,” he said. “Just stay positive about life. Don’t ever let anything that anybody says get you down, and always remember that there is something better ahead.”

Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com