FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VICTORIA, November 18, 2024. The Spirit Orcas, Canada’s only inclusive Masters “para” swim club, is set to compete at a Masters Swim Association of British Columbia (MSABC) swim meet in Nanaimo. Five adult swimmers with intellectual and physical disabilities are set to compete amongst neurotypical and able-bodied swimmers in several events.
Dixon McGowan, who recently turned 51, will be swimming the 200-meter freestyle alongside his teammate Maria Sharock (44). The two will swim 3 other events as well as 2 relays. Drew Sabourin (46) has signed up for the 400 freestyles,100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 2 other events and 2 relays.
Teammates Lisa Newell and Meliah Motchman, both legally blind and living with cognitive disabilities, will take on shorter events including the 50 freestyle for Lisa and 5 butterfly for Meliah.
The Spirit Orcas, many of whom have their roots in Special Olympics, formed a swim club last year when British Columbia’s only para swim club halted its program. To promote inclusion in sport, the club members opted to take the bold step of registering as a Masters rather than para or “disabled”.
Coached by Peter Kremer, a former national swimmer, and Susan Simmons, a record holding open water swimmer, the Spirit Orcas have become well known for their open water achievements, including their relay swims in the Great Bear Rainforest and an 80km staged around Victoria’s peninsula. The swim meet in Nanaimo, however, is their first official competition outside the disability community.
“We are grateful to MSABC and the Nanaimo Ebbtides for welcoming us into the community,” said Simmons. “It is only when we compete in the same spaces with each other that we have achieved inclusion”.
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Contact
Susan Simmons
778-678-7356
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