|
| |
|
June White, Special Olympics Bahamas aquatics coach |
There was much excitement and enthusiasm on the first day of the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin, Ireland. Competitors, coaches and volunteers enjoyed the sunshine and buzz as the preliminaries for the 100 meter backstrokes and 500 meter breaststroke got underway. There was cheering in every language and the anticipation was palpable as competitors took to the pool and gave it there all for the chance for a place in the final.
Talking to June White, a coach for the aquatics team from the Bahamas, it was clear that she and her team were having the time of their lives. “We experienced such great hospitality from our host town, Dungarvan,” she said. “There were tears in a lot of our eyes when we left.”
White said that her athletes attend a special school in the Bahamas and go to weekly practice sessions at the pool.
“We take the children from and to the pool for each practice session as well as coaching them, so we become very close,” she said.
White and the team from the Bahamas could not believe the weather in Dublin during the Games. “I think we brought the sunshine from the Bahamas,” she told an Irish reporter. “But don’t worry, we’ll leave you some.”
Gillian Cope wrote the original article this profile was based on; it appeared in The Games Gazette, the official newspaper of the 2003 Special Olympics World Summer Games.
|
