OLDS - A recent Special Olympics swim meet drew competitors to Olds from around the province and Saskatchewan.
Sixty-three competitors from Swift Current, Calgary, Airdrie and Olds took to the lanes at Olds Aquatic Centre on Dec. 7.
The first-ever Snowflake Classic was named such by Didsbury Special Olympics athlete Wesley Wilks who has competed twice at the national level.
Meet manager Teena Wilks said there were many personal bests and many first-, second- and third-place ribbons handed out.
“The meet was a fantastic success,” Wilks said.
This was the first swim meet Olds Phoenix Special Olympics swim club has ever held, she noted.
Many people from Olds and Didsbury donated their time and expertise to help make the event a success, Wilks said.
The event was held “to help the Special Olympics swimmers have a fall swim meet to help them prepare for the upcoming provincials in 2021 in Medicine Hat.”
Some of the best skilled officials in Alberta were on deck to help the swimmers try a first swim meet, she said.
“We were so blessed by having some of the very best technical officials on deck with us from all over Alberta to ensure to help make this meet an awesome success.”
Olds Aquatic Centre was “a perfect place” to hold a meet, she added as it boasts “wonderful, caring and very supportive staff,” as well as a diving end well-suited to Special Olympics athletes learning to swim.
The Olds club has 19 swimmers and Wilks’s fellow Special Olympics co-ordinator Karen Mengerson has done a lot of work to build participation, she said.
