David Barbalet stood on the edge of Lake Burley Griffin a quarter of a century ago and watched his best friend get left on the shore.
His mate was a natural athlete who could run, kick a soccer ball, and join in almost every sport. But because of symbrachydactyly, a birth defect that left him without full fingers on one hand, rowing remained entirely out of reach.
There was no off-the-shelf device that would let him grip an oar, proving to the teenage industrial design student that the ultimate barrier to inclusion wasn't strength or determination. It was technology.
