INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — It took plenty of determination and training for 10 local Special Olympic athletes to make it to this year’s State Aquatics Championship. Not so long ago, some could do little more than walk in water. Now they’re at the top of their game.
Bradley Soucy, 18, was one of those athletes from the Indian River County team who qualified to compete at the state event, held at North County Aquatics Center in Sebastian this weekend.
Elated, he went home with two gold medals for the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter breaststroke.
Hands up in the air, grinning from ear to ear, Bradley, who is developmentally delayed, graciously accepted his medals as his mother watched with pride.
“He’s a natural fish,” Jeanette Soucy gently boasted.
“It’s been transformational,” she later added. “They learn confidence and how to graciously lose as well as win.”
Gene Greenberg, the Masters swim coach at Leisure Square pool in Vero Beach, helped local Special Olympic athletes get to the state level. He volunteered to train the group and recruited 18 other volunteers to join the coaching effort, working with athletes at Leisure Square each Saturday morning from June through October.
Another group received training at the North County Aquatics Center by additional coaches. Currently, 47 athletes are on the county’s Special Olympics team; 10 won events at county and regional competitions to advance to the Florida championship.
Medals aren’t the only prizes for these athletes. The lessons learned during months of weekly training, including good sportsmanship and perseverance, are equally valuable, even for those going home without medaling.
At the weekend’s event, hosted by the Indian River County Recreation Department and the Treasure Coast Sports Commission, some 365 athletes, 125 coaches and 100 volunteers participated. In addition to two days of competition, there was also a Saturday night dinner ceremony and dance at Sebastian River High School.
Competitions included the 800-meter freestyle, 200-meter butterfly, 100-meter breaststroke, and relays on the long course in an Olympic-size pool. The short course included a 10-meter assisted swim, 15-meter kick board race, 15-meter walk and 25-meter flotation race.
“This is a huge deal, a culminating event,” said Berit Reiss, vice president of compliance and recruitment for Special Olympics Florida. “The whole point is to make the athlete believe they can do anything at all.”
