The trip to B.C.'s northern capital resulted in a medal haul for Special Olympics Vernon athletes.
Nine athletes, joined by six volunteer coaches, the regional coordinator, and two other required volunteers from Vernon, took part in the first Special Olympics B.C. Summer Games since 2017, held July 10-13 in Prince George.
The nine athletes competed in various sports and everyone came home with personal best time as well as at least one medal.
"It was a great representation for the town of Vernon and our athletes should be proud of their accomplishments," said local Special Olympics coordinator, and proud parent of a Special Olympian medallist, Marc Fisher. "Most of all, everyone had a great time and had fun."
In golf Level 4 (nine holes) Vernon's Devin Werstiuk placed first in the men's division 2. He shot 56 Friday and 54 Saturday for an overall total of 110.
In the swimming pool, Justin Rasmussen, 19, captured gold in the 25-metre backstroke with a time of 25.91 seconds in Div. 4. Fellow Vernon Special Olympian Darren Fisher, 28, took seventh place with a time of 33.79.
Rasmussen collected another gold in the 50m freestyle (Div. 5) with a time of 52.21 while Fisher finished fifth with 54.57. Rasmussen also placed second in the 25m freestyle with a time of 21.96, ahead of Fisher in fourth at 23.14. In the 50m backstroke Rasmussen placed seventh.
In the 25m backstroke, 19-year-old Ava Johnson placed third with a time of 35.54 in Div. 3. Johnson also secured fourth in the 25m freestyle (Div. 3) with a similar time of 35.48. In the 50m freestyle she placed eighth.
Aleese Watkins, 27, took home gold in the 50m freestyle (Div. 6) with a time of 53.97. She also collected silver in the Div. 5 25m backstroke with a time of 28.09. Watkins barely missed the podium with two fourth place finishes: 24m freestyle (Div. 6) with a time of 23.49 and 50m backstroke (Div. 5) with a time of 1:12.28.
Taking the top of the podium in track and field for the 800m run was former Vernon Special Olympian Eric Westley, 17, now of Penticton, in Div. 4 with a time of 2 minutes and 14.45 seconds.
Danielle Pechet, 34, earned bronze in Div. 1 with a time of 4:56.34. Steven Schwebbach, 35, placed fifth in Div. 3. In the 3,000m run. Pechet (who is Lumby's Athlete of the Year) took fourth in her division in 24:08.88.
In the 400m run, Schwebbach took gold as the oldest in Div. 6 with a time of 1:09.75.
Westley also topped the podium at 400m for Div. 7 with a time of 57.32 and added gold in the 1,500m run (Div. 4) with a time of 5:00.89. Pechet placed fifth in her division.
Mary Adamson, 45, secured gold in the 200m run with a time of 1:14.86. She also took home silver in the 100m run with a time of 29.93. In standing long jump Adamson was fifth in her division and seventh at mini javelin 300 grams.
Long jump proved to be another gold-winning sport for Schwebbach, reaching 1.95 metres in his division. Westley placed sixth in his division at 3.59 metres.
In the four kilogram shot put Schwebbach threw 4.08 metres for fifth place in his division.
Pechet topped the 300g mini javelin in her division at 11.32 metres.
Heather Jolliffe was part of the Region 2 Okanagan bocce team that won gold.
Here is the breakdown:
Coaches/Volunteers who attended from Vernon included:
香蕉视频直播� Swimming 香蕉视频直播� Marc Fisher, Kevin Browne, Mattison Watkins, and Michele Wernicke;
香蕉视频直播� Golf 香蕉视频直播� Debbie Heale;
香蕉视频直播� 10 Pin Bowling 香蕉视频直播� Nadine Rose;
香蕉视频直播� Mission Staff 香蕉视频直播� Sydney Feeney;
香蕉视频直播� Medical Representative 香蕉视频直播� Krissy Krnasty;
香蕉视频直播� Chef de Mission 香蕉视频直播� Laura Murphy (in charge of everyone from the Okanagan region, 140 athletes and coaches).
Over two days of competition, 870 Special Olympics B.C. athletes achieved personal bests, podium placings, and countless moments of pride and inspiration in 10 sports across Prince George.
This is the third time Special Olympics BC Games have been hosted in Prince George, within the movement香蕉视频直播檚 45 years of enriching lives of B.C. athletes with intellectual disabilities through the power and joy of sport
July 14 to 20 marks the annual , where people across the planet are coming together to call for inclusion and respect for respect for people with intellectual disabilities.
