Victoria Special Olympic Zoom Room Coach
When COVID-19 first arrived in British Columbia and our programs closed, I knew we were in it for the long haul. I was very concerned for the athletes physical and mental health. Not only where their Special Olympic programs halted, so where many of their day programs. Many, who are very social, found themselves in complete isolation. I quickly turned to the zoom room and began delivering workouts to as many athletes as I could six nights a week and on the 7th night a community dance. My hope was to keep them both connected and fit. Almost 1 year later we continue to meet now 5 nights a week and once a mont for a dance.
As with all the athletes I coach I challenge the athletes to achieve more than they ever thought possible. A 500 squat challenge was put out to the Wednesday night group and they proudly rose to the occassion.
Victoria Special Olympic Swim Coach
I am the proud swim coach of over 50 Special Olympic athletes. Between the months of October and February each year we meet twice a week at Crystal Pool in Victoria, Canada and swim for an hour.
I have been coaching this incredible group of people for over 6 years. The first year I coached I discovered that many of the athletes had no sense of just how far they could swim. The second year I challenged them to a 1 hour continuous swim. Almost all of the athletes exceeded the goals with many swimmer more than 3 kilometres.
Each year I encourage the athletes to challenge themselves and swim more and more…
… and they do.