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 “Swimmers take your mark!” Bang! Six swimmers dove from the starting blocks to begin competition in the 500 yard freestyle event. Lots of cheers for Sean Maynard could be heard from the deck as his teammates, family and friends were rooting for the newest member of the Havelock High School swim team in Havelock, NC.
Mary Dwyer, Special Olympics Jones County coordinator, watched the race in her role as a high school aquatics official but was also silently rooting for her friend Sean. It had been Mary who encouraged Sean to try-out for his high school swim team after watching him compete in Special Olympics for the past five years. She knew Sean, 17, had a real gift in the water.
“I knew he could make the team,” said Dwyer. “But what has been amazing is to see how much he has improved and excelled both in and out of the water!”
Over the course of the Havelock High’s three-month swim season, Sean mastered a flip-turn and improved his freestyle times in every event. Most impressive was the nearly two minutes he shaved off his 500 yard free time! He also dropped 22 seconds from his time in the 200 yd free and took key seconds off his 100 and 50 yard free times as well! He works out six days a week and his efforts have paid off. His performance each meet earned key points for his team and he even qualified for consideration of a spot in the 3A High School Regional meet in the 500 yd–free. During the high school season-ending banquet, Sean was recognized with the Most Improved Male Swimmer award and received a standing ovation!
“Sean has been a blessing to us since he was born,” said his dad, Paul Maynard. “Being on the team has been good for him in so many ways. We are definitely proud of him!”
“I think he deserves lots of awards for the year he’s had,” said Dwyer. “I nominated him for the Craven County ARC Athlete of the Year award. And he won! I’m so proud of him!”
In addition to his success in the water, Sean also has made lots of great friends by being on the team. His teammates often offer to help transport Sean to and from practice even though he lives 30 minutes away. They all have embraced him as a key member of the team. Some of his teammates even come to support him during his Special Olympics competitions.
His family and friends have seen Sean’s personality blossom since he joined the swim team as well. Swimming gave Sean, who is autistic, a real focus in life. Once very quiet, Mary Dwyer says now her friend now engages people in conversation and shows enthusiasm and inflection in his voice like he’d never done before. He has improved academically and socially as well,” she said.
Continued Success Sean! Good Luck at SONC Summer Games in Raleigh June 6-8!
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