The Special Olympics athletes head out to the World Summer Games in Athens, Greece on Sunday hoping to bring back their usual haul of medals.
Comprising of nine athletes, four coaches, one head of delegation and one assistant head of delegation, the team will be competing in aquatics, athletics and bocce fraom 25 June-4 July.
Andrew Smilley is the squad’s veteran competitor and the most likely to bring back medals. He won gold and silver medals at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Dublin, Ireland in 2003 and Shanghai, China in 2007, the Latin American Regional Games in Puerto Rico 2010, as well as competing locally and internationally in Special Olympics and CARIFTA competitions and open water events.
For his first cold-water open water swim in San Francisco Bay two years ago, Smilley did so well he was nominated for the online poll for the Greatest Open-Water Swim of 2009, which he won.
At the Games Smilley will be one of a select number of athletes taking part in the first ever open water swim event. For these Games it is a demonstration event, with the likelihood that it will be added as a standard in the future. An employee of Red Sail Sports, he is the most senior athlete of the Special Olympics Cayman Islands delegation.
“The coaches and athletes are excited and they are ready,” said Toni Johnson, who is head of the delegation. “They have been training very hard two or three times a week in all disciplines.
“Athletes are being urged to do their very best and all have been urged by coaches that personal bests is the main goal. They know the athletes’ oath is ‘Let me win, but if i cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.’”
For further information go to: www.athens2011.org
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