Metea Valley hosts Region C Special Olympics
March 11, 2022
Metea Valley was the home for many swimmers yesterday as we hosted the Region C Special Olympics swim meet. This meet included 48 different events of backstroke, freestyle, breaststroke, and butterfly, allowing for many different talents to be seen. It was thanks to both the volunteers and the Special Olympics Illinois that allowed this meet to happen.
“I am currently in peer partners, which is our adaptive PE program, so through that, they asked us if we could volunteer,” junior Jaydn Enas said.
This regional swim meet consisted of the Special Olympic Illinois Region C swimmers from DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and West Suburban Cook counties. Statistically, there are 2,818 athletes who are a part of region C and 23,316 in the state. Swimming is just one of the 18 sports that is offered by the Special Olympics and takes place all year long.
The swim meet began with an opening ceremony which included both the singing and signing of the national anthem. From there the meet would kick off the event starting with the 100 m freestyle and ending with four different relays. During the meet, you could hear and see so much support from both the athletes and volunteers. The volunteers put in a lot of effort to make everyone feel welcomed and proud of their accomplishments, by either shouting encouragement to the swimmers as they competed, or by making sure everything was running smoothly.
“I was an on-deck runner and cheerleader,” Enas said. “So pretty much I would take the buddies from the waiting area to their race and then when they were done I took them to get their awards. At the end of the day, we are all here to support one another and celebrate each other’s accomplishments. The energy today was so positive and uplifting!”
The first-place swimmers will advance to the state meet held in June and compete against the 10 other regions that are in Illinois.
