Melissa Whelan, Christian Leris, Ashley Stone, Jaymes Whelan, Ashley Lamming, Sophie Ryan, Kelly McIntosh and Shirley Milgate. Fellow swim team member Tim Little not pictured. Photos: Jordan Townrow.
Not only did Echuca Special Olympics swimmers get to participate and enjoy all the festivities the State Games in Ballarat had to offer — they hit some new personal bests as well.
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Travelling to Ballarat Aquatic and Lifestyle Centre for the annual event on Saturday, October 4 and Sunday, October 5, the seven Echuca swimmers hit a total of 17 personal best times between them.
With 10 teams from Victoria, one team from South Australia and roughly 70 competitors across the weekend, it is one of Special Olympics’ most participated-in events along with basketball.
The athletes swim in a range of events from 25m to 400m, depending on ability and confidence.
Not only is the event an opportunity to show off the fruits of the athlete’s labour, but to celebrate the spirit of Special Olympics — ability, resilience and community pride.
Jaymes Whelan getting some laps in.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
The Echuca Special Olympics swimmers train at Echuca Aquatic Centre every Friday night, with 10 to 12 swimmers getting in the pool on average.
While regular coach Shirley Milgate was the team manager for the event and is involved in management for Special Olympics internationally, Melissa Whelan led the Echuca team at the State Games.
Milgate emphasised her pride in seeing the Echuca athletes achieve and compete with good sportsmanship.
“It’s absolutely fantastic that our swimmers achieve such high results, we had 17 personal best times out of the seven swimmers that competed,” she said.
Christian Leris pushing hard.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
“Our swimmers compete with the highest level of sportsmanship and they certainly enjoy the competition.
“The results speak for themselves, you can see how well they’ve trained and hard they’ve trained over the year to receive such high results.”
Milgate emphasised the large amount of participation outside of swimming and acknowledged the outstanding efforts by all athletes.
“I’m very proud of our local athletes, and it wasn’t just swimming,” she said.
Ben Portwine working on his breaststroke.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
“There were athletes who competed in bocce, basketball, netball and golf at the State Games.
“So, out of all of our athletes, I think we achieved high results and that’s put down to their great dedication to training and their participation.”
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