Skills cycle for swim star Oliver

from Chad:
UK - Three senior figures from Nottinghamshire-based Skills Holidays are ‘pedalling for pesos’, to help Blidworth swimmer Oliver Pratley take part in the Down Syndrome World Championships in Mexico this November.
Oliver (19) has already broken seven junior world records and nine European records and was breaststroke World Champion in 2012.
Now Oliver’s mum, Helen, and their supporters have to raise the £2,500 needed for him to attend the championships.
They have already raised £1,900 towards that amount but need a further £600.
Skills Chairman Nigel Skill and fellow Director Simon Skill, along with Holiday/Commercial Manager Martin Laver were so impressed with Oliver’s achievements to date that they wanted to help raise the remaining cash needed through a sponsored cycle ride tomorrow (Saturday).
The team will be setting off on a 50-mile round trip starting from Oliver’s home town of Blidworth, heading towards Newark, before turning north and travelling around Sherwood Forest and finally returning to Blidworth.
Helen Pratley said: “Unlike with the Paralympic teams, there’s no major sponsor to support swimmers with Down Syndrome.

Dunlope grows from love of sport

by Frank DiRenna from This Week Sports.com:
Anna Dunlope has been a part of the Westerville South High School swimming and diving program for four seasons.
Although she may not have had the same results as some of her teammates, her enthusiasm is endless.
Dunlope, 19, has Down syndrome, but she has not allowed it to hinder her love for the sport.
"We're very proud of her," said her mother, Debbie. "She loves swimming. It's been a tremendous positive influence in her life. The friendships that she has developed and the support system that she has with the other swimmers -- and just the camaraderie going to swim meets and seeing kids from other schools that she knows -- being part of a team is huge."
Anna's favorite event is the 100-yard breaststroke, but she also competes in other events, including the 50 freestyle. Her father, Doug, believes she has a personal-best of about 54 seconds in the 50 free.
She credits her teammates and coaches for helping her progress and enjoy competing in the sport.
"They keep me on track of what we're doing," she said. "Coach (Jeff Riegler) teaches me to go faster."
Anna is the only senior on the girls team, and Riegler expects her to receive special recognition during the Wildcats' season-ending awards ceremony.
'That makes me feel special," she said of being the only senior. "This is my last year. It's kind of sad."
"She can't do everything, but she doesn't really stop," Riegler said. "Everybody treats her with respect and you can't ask for a better teammate."

UK Swimmer Laura bids for more medals at Special Olympics

by Yonnie McInnes from The Daily Record:
BEING born with Down Syndrome hasn’t stopped 19-year-old Laura Logan from achieving sporting success.
Laura, from Coylton, Souyth Ayrshire, has already lifted around 100 swimming medals and is aiming to win more.
For on Tuesday she left for Bath along with 217 Scotland West athletes to compete in the National Special Olympic Games on Sunday.
Laura is one of eight athletes, seven swimmers, one 10-pin bowler and three coaches from Ayrshire who are part of the Sports for Special Needs’ team; Laura is part of Kilmarnock Jets Swim Team.
Sports for Special Needs coach Joan O’Sullivan said: “Laura has been a member of our club since April 2007, she trains at the Galleon Centre in Kilmarnock every Tuesday evening and has been doing additional training at Drumchapel in Glasgow with the Scotland West Swim Team on the first Sunday of every month since being selected at the end of last year.
“All athletes who wish to be selected for the team apply, then they have to go through a compatibility test to see if they fit the criteria and trials.
“On the first round there were 70 applications for 40 places on the swim team, 22 males and 18 females to be selected. So it was an honour for all successful chosen athletes to gain a position to swim for the West of Scotland at the Special Olympics.”
Laura has achieved all this despite hearing problems that have meant a lot of operations, as well as a heart defect for which she needs a yearly check-up.

Honorary doctorate awarded to athlete and self advocate, Karen Gaffney

from Central Washington University:
On May 5, 36-year-old, Karen Gaffney will receive an honorary doctorate from Oregon's University of Portland. University officials believe she may be the first person with Down syndrome to receive such a degree.

Karen Gaffney

Famed distance swimmer and Down syndrome activist Karen Gaffney has spent her life showing the world that commitment, determination, and vision are the hallmarks of a well-lived life, not believing false limits imposed by other people’s expectations.

Renowned for her extraordinary exploits as a swimmer (she has swum the English Channel with teammates, swam nine miles across Lake Tahoe, and swam across Lake Champlain and San Francisco Bay, among many other feats), she is also a remarkably eloquent speaker and activist for people with developmental disabilities, and president of the Karen Gaffney Foundation in Portland.

IPC reject DSISO's plea to be recognized

*****

from Down Syndrome International Swimming Organization:

Link to copy of the below letter from International Paralympic Committee to DSISO outlining why people with Down Syndrome are not allowed to officially compete in the Paralympic games.

28 April 2008 PV/IPC

Swimming for Individuals with Down Syndrome

Dear Geoff,

In reference to your email dated 15 February to Sabine Mikulas, and all previous communication on the interest of the Down Syndrome International Swimming Organisation (DSISO) to become a member of the Paralympic Movement, and after a further review of the facts you outlined, we have reached the following conclusions:

1. It is understood by both IPC and DSISO that not all persons with Down Syndrome (DS) meet the criteria for intellectual disability, but it is not all that common (e.g. translocation and mosacism). In the likelihood of occurrence, those particular athletes with DS (without associated intellectual disability) may fit under the current Functional Classification System of IPC Swimming on the condition they meet the requirements for locomotor disability in accordance with IPC Swimming rules and regulations (IPC Swimming Classification Manual, Section 1 – Swimming Classification). There is no need for those athletes to be recognized as a separate disability group within the IPC. The comparison made to athletes with visual impairment or cerebral palsy that happen to have an intellectual disability does not stand, as both impairments are qualified as physical impairments (which is not the case for Down Syndrome).
2. Trisomy 21, the most common form of DS, almost exclusively manifests itself with an associated intellectual disability. Within this perspective, according to the IPC Constitution Article 4.1.2, the IPC can only recognize one organization as the sole representative of a specific disability group. In the case of athletes with an intellectual disability the IPC Member is currently INAS-FID. Swimmers with an intellectual disability, including Down Syndrome swimmers with associated ID, have to meet the eligibility criteria of the respective International Federation (INAS-FID). On the basis of these conclusions, the proposal of DSISO to apply for IPC Membership is no longer considered by the IPC.

Kind regards,

Xavier Gonzalez

Chief Executive Officer

International Paralympic Committee

cc Tim Reddish, Chairperson IPC Swimming

     Sir Philip Craven, IPC President

swimmer Tom Cole puts in a golden showing at Euro champs

from the Haverhill Echo:
Three gold medals and two bronze medals were brought home by a Haverhill swimmer competing at a recent European event.

Not content with that, Tom Cole, 22, also set a new world record and broke two European records when competing at the European Downs Syndrome Championships in Southampton on April 14 and 15.
He had five events over the weekend, three of which he will be doing in November at the Down’s World Championships in Italy.
West Suffolk Swimming Club (WSSC) member Cole started the first session with the 800 metre freestyle, where he stormed to victory in a time of 12 minutes, 11.9 seconds, taking the gold medal and also breaking the world record which had stood since 2008.
In the afternoon session, his first race was the 400m freestyle.
Cole, who was very nervous as he does not always count the correct number of lengths, was spot on on this occasion, coming in with a time of 5.55.41 and picking up another gold medal with a personal best (PB) time which also broke his own European Record.
This was followed up by the 100m Butterfly with a time of 1.36.91, a two second PB and a bronze medal.
On the Sunday morning, Cole started off with the 200m individual medley (IM), with friend and team mate Ben swimming in the next lane, and it was a great race with the friendly rivalry.
Cole’s entered time was 3.09.09 and he managed to hold the gold medal position with a time of 3.07.87, bettering his own European record in the process.
His last event was the 100m freestyle, which was a very close race with a second between the first three.
Cole bagged the bronze with a time of 1.20.06, just outside his best time.
The Team GB manager was really pleased with how Cole swam, and mum Barbara attributed his success to his and Pat Jason’s (coach) wonderful partnership.
“The time and effort that both have put in over the years and specifically the past eight months of the season have been rewarded with some fantastic swims,” she said.
Cole’s events at The Downs World Championships in Italy in November will be the 1,500 freestyle, 800m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 200m backstroke, 400m IM and the 200m IM.

*****

Video from the European Down Syndrome Swimming Competition 2012 from YouTube

Stephanie Handojo: The wonder kid

by Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta:
Some people incorrectly believe that people born with Down syndrome cannot function independently or contribute to society, but Stephanie Handojo has shown that she, like every other person born with Down syndrome, is very special, and more than capable.

On the surface, the 20-year-old looks like an average person with Down syndrome, but beneath the exterior that sometimes people judge her on, she is an extraordinary girl. She has plenty of talent and has
already achieved tremendous things.

Her latest achievement is being selected as one of torchbearers in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The multitalented girl flew to Britain last month to undertake her leg of the torch relay in Nottingham, London. She was chosen from over 12 million candidates from all around the globe to carry the torch, due to her amazing achievements in sport and other fields.

“I am happy and proud to be able to represent Indonesia,” Stephanie told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview at her home in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta.

Before being selected as one of the torchbearers for the London Olympics, Stephanie had already made Indonesia proud, winning the gold medal in the 50-meter breast stroke at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Athens, Greece, a year ago – becoming the first Indonesian special athlete to win the competition.

“She is an inspiration to her Indonesian friends because she broke a record. Indonesia had never won in that competition, but after her victory, many of her friends want to follow in her footsteps,” said Stephanie’s mother, Maria Yustina Tjandrasari, who was also present during the interview, of her daughter’s proud moments.

Apart from excelling in sports, Stephanie, or Fani as she is affectionately called, also stands out in artistic fields. She can play the piano very well. In fact, she was included in the Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI) in 2009 for playing 22 songs on her piano, some of them without a musical score.

With all her awards and recognition, Fani has become a great example for children with Down syndrome.

Medical experts define Down syndrome as a genetic condition, in which a person is born with an extra chromosome. As the result, children with this condition suffer delays in physical and emotional development. But Fani has managed to overcome these limitations, and many other obstacles, to become a very high achiever. In addition to that, she is also a simple, sweet, lovable and good-mannered girl – she greeted us very warmly when the Post came to interview her at home.

Fani is living proof that children with Down syndrome can live a normal life and, beyond that, do plenty of great things that not only make their families proud, but their country as well.

However, as with all achievements, it takes a lot of work and dedication to get there. Fani would not have achieved so much had it not been for the continuous support she received from her mother, Maria. She is a wonderful woman who encouraged, supported, and challenged her daughter every step of the way. It was her mother that first encouraged Fani to swim and play the piano.

“It was by accident. A book I was reading at the time said that children with Down syndrome should be given stimulation as early as possible, and I chose swimming and music because they are good for stimulating both the mind and body,” explained Maria.

Maria, who gave up her career after discovering that her first child was born with Down syndrome, said she designed a special program with specific goals for Fani, without the assistance of any doctors or therapists.  The former badminton athlete said she designed the program after reading a number of books on the subject.

Under her guidance, Fani’s developmental timeline was equal to that of any other child. For instance, she could walk at the age of 1.5 years, and was able to read at 5 years. These things were considered great achievements for children with Down syndrome.

These encouraging signs led Maria to enroll Fani in an average school, not one for children with disabilities. Fani attended classes with children without learning disabilities from elementary school all the way to high school.

“It was not easy on us, because people who did not understand that children with Down syndrome are just like other children, would say or do inappropriate things, and people did not want to accept us, but we persisted,” the mother of three said.

Despite all her dedication and persistence, Maria humbly says that she has only supported her child in living a normal and full life.

“Fani herself was a very determined child. She has a tremendous spirit and enjoys learning,” Maria said of her lovable daughter.

Apart from what her mother says, other people also notice Fani’s determination to live a full life based on her daily activities – not a day goes by without her being involved in sport, or other kinds of lessons or activities.

Her schedule will become even busier soon, as she plans on taking cooking lessons with her mother. “I want to become a chef, and I am now learning how to cook. I recently made a chocolate cake with my mother,” said Fani, sharing her adventures in cooking with an excited and happy expression.

And after graduating from a tourism vocational high school earlier this year, Fani has been running a laundry business too, which was established by her mother.

Maria hopes that by teaching Fani all types of skills, her daughter can continue to be an independent person in the future.

It seems that, with so many skills and talents, and her strong determination to learn new things, the future is wide open and brimming with possibilities for Fani, the wonder kid.

2012 Celebrating Differences calendar

from Darien Patch:

About the only thing nine-year-old Sara Davis isn't is idle.

The 3^rd grader with Down Syndrome at Concord Elementary in Darien and resident of unincorporated Downers Grove is a swimmer, cheerleader, basketball player, dancer and Special Olympic medalist equestrian rider. And now, for the third year in a row, she's a calendar model.

Sara shares the month of February with her friend David in the 2012 Celebrating Differences calendar, a calendar and organization created to promote abilities over disabilities in area youth. Celebrating Differences, a not-for-profit out of Oswego, was created in 2007 to provides resources, educational workshops, networking and other services for children with special needs.

“It's for kids with all kinds of disabilities,” Sara's mom Marcy said. “That's important because our community is more than just one type of disability.”

For Sara, the calendar is just one activity on a list of many that keeps her—and her mom—busy on a daily basis. On Monday, it's horseback riding at the Hanson Center Barn in Burr Ridge. On Wednesdays, Sara does gymnastics at Elite Gymnastics. Thursday is dance at Expressions Dance Studio in Westmont, and Saturdays are a split between cheerleading on the Believe team out of Naperville and Special Olympics basketball. And whenever she can, Sara squeezes in swimming. That's not to mention the homework—Sara's current favorite subject is spelling, though she changes her opinion on a regular basis—Sara gets from school, either. Add all that up and you get a good idea of how active Sara is. Oh, and she also likes going to church on Sundays.

“She's a very smart, eager and fun-loving girl who wants to be part of her community,” Marcy said.

Sara got interested in the Special Olympics this year after seeing her friend David participate and win a lot of medals. In her first year participating, she's already a medalist, taking a bronze medal in September in the Equitation class, which was a series of skills courses combined with managing and walking her horse.

“She's just like everyone else and wants to be doing whatever everyone else does,” Marcy said.

If you'd like to purchase a Celebrating Differences 2012 calendar, you can do so by following this link.

Tom’s Paralympic dream is shattered

from Haverhill Echo:

The mother of Haverhill-trained swimming sensation Tom Cole has branded the classification system that will see him unable to compete at the Paralympics next year as “discriminating” against Down’s Syndrome.

Double World gold medallist Cole, 22, will be denied the once-in-a-lifetime chance to line-up in the Games in his home country due to a system which puts people with Down’s Syndrome into competition with people without any physical disabilities.

Cole, who holds six European Down’s Syndrome swimming records, alongside his two World Downs Championship gold medals, will be left to watch the drama unfolding on television next summer wondering ‘what if’.

The current system used by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) would only allow Cole to compete in an S14 category which covers learning disabilities with an IQ under 75.

But this does not take into account common Down’s Syndrome physical disabilities such as narrower windpipes and low muscle tone as well as restricted height.

Mrs Cole said: “We are gutted and every Down’s Syndrome swimmer in Great Britain feels the same.

“Physically there are things wrong as well as a low IQ and I cannot see how IQ would affect swimming.

“I do not know why the IPC do not recognise it when it is a disability you can diagnose before birth.”

Despite their family having launched a campaign for a change in the classification system and with MPs around the country having taken up the fight, nothing has worked with Mrs Cole claiming it is like hitting “a brick wall”.

Phil Ward, a West Suffolk Swimming coach who has worked with Cole, of Great Waldingfield, near Sudbury, at Haverhill Leisure Centre, labelled it “an uneven playing field”.

He said the fact Cole would come up against people much taller and healthier than himself, with far better muscle tone, meant he could not be capable of beating them in the pool.

A spokesman for the IPC said Down’s Syndrome athletes were a ‘very small group of people’ that it would not be realistic for them to cater for with their own classification.

He said classification had to be done by primary impairment, which, in the case of Down’s Syndrome, was deemed to be intellectual.

“We are driven by primary impairment and in the case of Downs it (physical) is a secondary impairment,” he said.

Swim team coaches athletes with Down syndrome

from pressofAtlanticCity:

Cheryl Laurence has a 23-year-old daughter, Kirstin Angelozzi, who has Down syndrome and loves swimming. When they couldn’t find a swim team for her close to their Little Egg Harbor Township home, Laurence started a special needs team called Ocean County’s New Wave.

Laurence coaches the team, which practices once a week from September to June in the St. Francis Center Pool in Long Beach Township. She gets lots of help from Tom Rears, of the Brant Beach section. His son, Thomas Charles Rears, 27, also has Down syndrome and is an excellent swimmer. 

The team started with just four members, but that didn’t keep it from participating in the New Jersey Special Olympics Summer Games at the College of New Jersey in Trenton last month, where both Angelozzi and Rears won silver medals in the 50-meter breast stroke.

Rears, who works at Wawa in Beach Haven and volunteers with his dad for Meals on Wheels, also placed fifth in the men’s 50-meter freestyle. Angelozzi, who works at the Arc of Ocean County’s supported work facility in Lakewood, took seventh place in the girls 50-meter freestyle, Laurence said.

“We’re really looking for more members,” said Laurence, who helps husband Jeffrey run Laurence Heating and Air Conditioning in Little Egg Harbor Township.  Any young adult with developmental disabilities who knows how to swim is welcome, she said.

Email her at mailto:angelaurence@aol.com or for a link to her website, visit .comPressofAC.com. 

Improving access to parks and public areas for people with disabilities

from Disability.gov:

As part of President Barack Obama's America's Great Outdoors Initiative, the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR) works to increase public enjoyment and recreational use of federal lands. FICOR is also finding ways to improve access to our parks, refuges, and other public lands and shores for persons with disabilities. Read about the Access Pass, a free, lifetime pass that provides access to more than 2,000 recreation sites.

The Access Pass admits pass owner/s and passengers in a non-commercial vehicle at per-vehicle fee areas and pass owner + 3 adults, not to exceed 4 adults, where per-person fees are charged. (Children under 16 are always admitted free.) Note: Photo identification will be requested to verify pass ownership.

At many sites the Access Pass provides the pass owner a discount on Expanded Amenity Fees (such as camping, swimming, boat launching, and guided tours).