Successful start for Special Olympics

THE Special Olympics Ireland Summer Games recently concluded after what was an extremely successful weekend.

Over 1,200 athletes competed at the games across 12 different sports representing five separate regions.

South West Dublin had huge representation in the games with athletes representing from Flying Trojans, Lourdes Celtic, South Dublin Special Olympics Club, United Warriors, Viking Swimmers, South Dublin Strikers, Speisialta Special Olympics Club, Lucan Special Olympics Club, Palmerstown Wildcats, Knocklions and Tallaght Tornadoes Special Olympics Club all had athletes taking part.

A number of local athletes performed well at the event. One such group was the Tornadoes who competed in the Eastern Region’s Bowling team, guided by coach Stephen O’Hara.

Adam Young earned a gold medal in the singles category as well as a bronze in the doubles, James Clarke earned a bronze in the singles category along with a silver in the doubles while Jamie Fitzgerald earned a ribbon with a fourth place finish in the singles category along with a silver in the doubles.

Their coach was delighted with their performance.

“The guys had a phenomenal weekend, achieving Gold, Silver, Bronze/Ribbon across the singles and doubles , I’m absolutely thrilled for them all their hard work for months and years has paid off.”

Stephen Fagan of United Warriors also performed well over the weekend earning a gold in the 100m walk and a bronze medal in the softball throw.

Viking Swimmer athlete Michelle Stynes was another medalist who excelled at the games. Competing in a variety of different races, Michelle won gold in the breaststroke and relay categories as well as a silver medal in the front crawl.

Working part time in Mount Venus garden centre, Michelle has an extensive history in the Special Olympics, previously being part of the Irish Basketball team that won a medal at the 2015 Special Olympic Games in Los Angeles. She was a member of the Wildcats during that time.

Speisialta Special Olympics Club based in Clondalkin had one of the largest contingents from South West Dublin at the games with eight athletes achieving five gold and four silver medals across Badminton.

These were Stephen Hogan, Jonathan Deering, Joey Ennis, Shane Rigney, Emma Myles, Brennie Collis, Conor McGuirk and Winnie Kane.

They had a further seven players in the football category with Graham Conor, Darren Treacy, Kehindi Sanni, Paul Mulligan, Nathan Cummins, Luke Reddin and Ben Craig all picking up bronze medals.