Tomas Rodriguez was born with a medical condition called Hydrocephalus, the condition means he was born with water in his brain. Rodriguez was treated with it since birth and has had six brain surgeries.

The Spain native held 16 Madrid records in 16 different events, even breaking those broke multiple times. He was also the national record holder in the 200 IM. Rodriguez said his greatest achievement didn’t come as a win, but for his effort.

“I also achieved, something I’m proud of… the bronze medal in the open body swim, that was huge for me.” Rodriguez said.

He moved to the United States in 2017 with his family. He’s been part of a club team in Florida, the U.S. Paralympic team and as of recently the Oswego State Lakers swim team.

Rodriguez trains with teammates without disabilities. His coach Michael Holman has positive things to say about him.

“He is far more put together and on top of managing his daily life and school and other activities than athletics, he more kids I deal with, he’s on top of it.” Coach Michael Holman says.

“So, what may seem to be my disability out of the water become my ability when I dive off the block/six brain surgeries didn’t change my life, you know swimming did.” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez is training for the 2019 Can-Am Para-Swimming championships in Vancouver. He is also going to train with his club team in Florida, hoping for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

On November 20th, on a Wednesday, Oswego Theatre Department premieres their play “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” originally written by Sara Ruhl. 

This play, written in the early 2000s, focuses on the significance of human interaction and how technology plays a huge part in our daily lifestyle. 

Based on the playwright’s personal life, important topics such as mortality, interactions, relationships, technology, and more are all present in the show. 

With a small cast, in a total of 8 cast members and all in different years, they are putting on a absurdus play, which will put the topics in more of a comedic, interactive and exciting concept.

Ahmanee Simmons, Director of the play and senior tells her experience directing and the significance of the play. “Dead Man’s Cell Phone was definitely to highlight the human connection and the way we have kind of, sort of, lost that…And with the use of cell phones and technology, I kind of wanted to highlight that. But I also wanted to highlight the false perception of life that we get through social media and stuff like that. ” She said. “We have moved from that paper culture kind of society before and now, to this very digital, more efficient way to live our lives, and I think now it is about finding the balance between the two. Right now, everything is more digital, which is good as this does help us be more efficient as individuals in work, school, or social life, but there is also that boundary where we let it control our lives. This is also something that we address in Dead Man’s Cell Phone.” She also said. 

Giovanni Rodriguez, the assistant director of the play also commented about the production. “Working with the cast has been great. I enjoy working with my director, Ahmanee Simmons. With the play itself,  I believe the moral of the story is that we are all disconnected in our own ways and a simple ‘hello’ or ‘how are you’ can connect the most unlikely people in an instant. This is really about disconnection and what we don’t do due to technology. [In this play], I believe is going to open people’s eyes ” He said. 

“You should come see it!!”-Ahmanee Simmons

The play will take place in Tyler Hall’s Lab Theatre and will extend from November 20th to November 23rd.

To purchase the ticket online, you may visit https://oswego.universitytickets.com/w/default.aspx

For more theatre plays, you may visit https://www.oswego.edu/theatre/theatre-0