Olds and District Special Olympics athlete Wesley Wilks is getting ready to head to the Canada Summer Games in Antigonish, N.S.
The Games run July 31-Aug. 4. Wilks will be a member of Team Alberta's swim team.
He's expected to compete in the 100 metre (m) and 200 m breaststroke, 200 m backstroke, 200 m butterfly, 200 m freestyle and the 200 m IM (Individual Medley, a combination of swimming strokes).
Wilks will have lots of company.
"There will be 1,025 athletes from across Canada competing in nine different sports: athletics, bocce, basketball, golf, rhythmic gymnastics, powerlifting, soccer, softball and swimming," Olds and District Special Olympics chair Karen Mengersen says.
After the Games, Mengersen will learn whether Wilks and local Special Olympics 10-pin bowler Mark Mengersen will qualify for the Special Olympics World Summer Games, which take place March 14-21, 2019 in Abu Dhabi.
Mengersen notes four years ago, local Special O bowler Aaron Johnson competed in the Special Olympics World Summer Games when they were held in Los Angeles.
"It would be very exciting to have Olds represented again on the international level," Mengersen says.
