Breaking Down Barriers: ‘People Can Do Anything They Want’

Homewood High School senior Adele Brandrup is one of 52 regional winners in the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program’s Student Achievement category, which honors senior student-athletes who have overcome personal adversity to excel. Adele was born deaf and essentially has no peripheral vision.

By Josh Bean

Homewood senior Adele Brandrup understands the influence she can have on others.

A record-setting swimmer, she was born with Charge syndrome, a complex and rare condition that often causes vision and hearing difficulties, heart defects, struggles with breathing and balance, and other wide-ranging issues.

For Adele, she was born deaf and essentially has no peripheral vision. She was also born with no semicircular canals, the fluid-filled tubes in the inner ear responsible for balance. She can hear, thanks to a cochlear implant she received as a baby. But she communicates through American Sign Language because, although she can hear sounds, she is not able to distinguish conversation.

She’s endured about 15 surgeries, as well as countless physical and occupational therapy sessions.

Nothing has stopped her.

“I want to show people can do anything they want. They can break those barriers,” she said, with the help of Autumn Anderson, an American Sign Language interpreter who assists her at Homewood High School. “In the past, I’ve experienced some really tough times, but I know there’s light at the end, so I kept going for it.”

Adele has accomplished many things thought impossible for someone with Charge syndrome. For instance, she learned to ride a bicycle, a rarity for Charge patients. She’s even competed in triathlons.

That’s why her Mom, Julie Brandrup, calls her “a superstar with Charge syndrome.”

Adele is also one of 52 regional winners in the Bryant-Jordan Scholarship Program’s Student Achievement category, which honors senior student-athletes who have overcome personal adversity to excel. All regional winners receive a $3,000 scholarship. 

She was recognized during the 28th Bryant-Jordan banquet April 10 at the Birmingham Sheraton Ballroom. More than $10 million in scholarship aid has been presented by the Bryant-Jordan program since its inception in 1986.

“Adele has overcome obstacles most would never dream of,” wrote Emily Mallard, Adele’s swimming coach at Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, in a letter in support of her Bryant-Jordan candidacy. “To her, these are not obstacles but just part of everyday life. She problem-solves and determines how to make a situation work for her.”

Dedicated to Swimming

Adele’s swimming career showcases her dogged determination.

She began swimming at age 4, eventually joined the team at Lakeshore Foundation and began swimming competitively in 2019. She has competed in the Move United Junior Nationals.

The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown prompted her to briefly join a community swim team at the Jewish Community Center in Birmingham as the only para-athlete. She also joined the Homewood High School swimming team as an adaptive athlete while continuing to train at Lakeshore. She set AHSAA adaptive records in the 50-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter breaststroke and 100-meter backstroke events.

“I’m happy to show people what we can do,” she said. “I’m happy if someone breaks my records, because that means I’m encouraging people to join the sport.”

Adele, who refers to herself as a “deaf-blind athlete,” is also set to swim at the University of Montevallo. She’ll be the first para-swimmer in Montevallo swimming history. 

She recounted how she met Montevallo swimming coach Aaron Mahaney, who happened to be manning the athletics table while she visited the school for preview day. “I met him in person right there, right then,” she said. “He seemed like a nice person – a little bit strict, but nice.”

Mahaney was immediately impressed with Adele.

“I was like, ‘Absolutely, if there’s a way we can help you live your dream of being a college athlete, we’re definitely here to help support that,’” Mahaney said. “I was definitely excited to meet her.”

Adele ultimately chose Montevallo, which offers a deaf studies major, and signed with the Falcons’ swimming program. She said she plans to major in exercise science, with a minor in deaf studies.

“When I visited the campus for the first time, I knew. I knew it would be my next home,” Adele said. “I felt like I would fit there. It has those deaf resources. It’s a small campus – small class sizes, as well. I really enjoy the teachers I have met. They’ve all been nice. I think it’s the only school in the South with deaf education.”

Mahaney said he’s excited about adding Adele to his roster.

“I think her determination and eagerness to try new things and put herself outside her comfort zone to do something she’s never done before really impressed me,” he said.

Before meeting Mahaney and visiting Montevallo, Adele said, she expected to continue swimming at Lakeshore but hadn’t considered the idea of collegiate swimming. That’s just another barrier she’s broken.

“I don’t see myself as a disabled athlete,” she said. “I live my life.”

OTM Athletes Recognized

Adele was among a handful of Over the Mountain athletes who were honored during the Bryant-Jordan Awards banquet.

Mountain Brook’s Jack Heaps was the Class 6A winner of the Larry Striplin Jr. Blankenship Scholar-Athlete award. Heaps, a soccer player, also was the Region 5 Scholar-Athlete winner.

Vestavia Hills’ William Douglass was the Class 7A Region 3 Achievement winner.

Briarwood’s Bradford Latta was the Class 6A Region 4 Scholar-Athlete winner and Westminster-Oak Mountain’s Hannah Adams was the Class 2A Region 4 Scholar-Athlete winner.

The overall Larry Striplin Jr. Blankenship Scholar-Athlete was Katie Giles from Glencoe High School. The overall Ken and Betty Joy Blankenship Student Achievement winner was Jazzmine Mason from Hatton High School.

The scholarship program, named in honor of the late coaches Paul “Bear” Bryant of Alabama and Ralph “Shug” Jordan of Auburn, recognized 52 regional scholar-athlete winners selected for their excellence in athletics and academics and 52 achievement winners chosen for their ability to overcome major obstacles during their high school careers.

Eight students in each category were selected as regional winners in Classes 1A through 6A. Four regional winners in each category were selected from school nominations in Class 7A. Each of the 104 regional winners received a $3,000 scholarship. The 14 Class winners received an additional $3,500; and for each overall state winner, the stipend received was $4,000.

This year, a new scholarship was added, the W. Edgar Welden Service Award, a $2,500 grant presented to one recipient in each of the divisions. The award is named in honor of Welden, who currently serves as the chairman of the Bryant-Jordan board and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame board.

Josh Bean writes for the Alabama High School Athletic Association.