Special Olympics Te Awamutu grab 37 medals at National Summer Games

Special Olympics Te Awamutu representatives at the Special Olympics National Summer Games. Photo / Supplied

Hamilton’s Waterworld hosted the Special Olympics National Summer Games this month with 11 sports involving more than 1300 athletes and 450 coaches.

Scheduled to take place last year, the four-yearly event was a year late due to Covid complications.

The opening ceremony was on Thursday, December 8, with heats and finals following from Friday to Monday.

Special Olympics Te Awamutu boasted a large team of 18 swimmers under head coach Shelley Blair.

The event meant a lot to the athletes and Shelley says that was proved by their results.

Every Te Awamutu athlete received a medal. Their impressive tally saw 11 gold medals, 14 silvers, 12 bronze and 34 personal best records set.

“They’ve been putting in the hard yards and I always say that PBs are just like gold. One of the athletes did a PB in a heat and then went out and beat that time again. So that was very cool,” says Shelley.

“On the last day, 16 out of the 18 were competing. Fifteen of them medalled and the other one was a PB.”

The Te Awamutu team had six newcomers to nationals, and Shelley says it was special to witness them medal in their first Summer Games.

The newcomers were Aimee McLachlan, Kaziah Clark, Caitlin Thomas, Kathleen Bayer, Melissa Wise and Ben Chisnall, and they all seem very keen to continue swimming.

“Because of Covid, we’ve had bouts of not being able to train at the Te Awamutu pool. Training was limited more so in the last year than it ever has been before, but I always offer to have an extra Saturday training in national years.

“They did the hard yards outside of the pool as well, lots of walking, biking and going to the gym. They wanted to do well and I believe that they did.

“They trained like they were competing and when it came to heats, they swam them like they were finals. That’s the dedication they have. I’m totally overwhelmed every time they hit the pool — they want it as much as I want for them to have it.”

Shelley says that although it was a successful Games for the athletes, it’s not just about winning, but having fun too.

On behalf of Special Olympics Te Awamutu, Shelley sends her thanks to Jennie Yarndley and Eva Bernabe for their help with coaching, while team manager Catherine Clark did an amazing job co-ordinating everything.