Swimmers don’t always think about their feet, except when they are concentrating on kicking and propelling themselves through the pool or an open water swim. At Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, every athlete has the opportunity to visit Special Olympics Healthy Athletes for various evaluations, treatments, and referrals for many conditions or issues they may face. But healthy, strong feet are the foundation for every activity. St. Maarten swimmers, Roger Jeffers and Anna Verloop took advantage of their day off from competition and visited Healthy Athletes Fit Feet.
“Ah, that feels good,” Roger grinned. He relaxed in a chair as a one of the Fit Feet clinicians massaged his feet and rubbed lotion on them. She had just conducted a dermatological review of his feet and found that he had a callous on one foot. As she did her checks, she touched a ticklish spot on his left foot, and he jumped and started giggling. She evaluated his ankles and his flexibility.
There were five stations at Fit Feet where athletes’ feet were measured and foot-printed, their gait and lower extremity biomechanics were reviewed, and they were checked for proper shoe size, and sock gear. Many athletes suffer from foot and ankle pain, or deformities that impair their performance.
Clinicians conducted a total of 1980 athlete screenings at Fit Feet.
