- April 19, 2024
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If there was one sporting event in 2019 that Spruce Creek High School coach Cameron McClelland couldn't miss, it was the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. After all, he was selected to be one of Team USA's swimming coaches.
“Being called to represent the USA was an outstanding opportunity,” McClelland said.
McClelland first became involved with the Special Olympics in 2003 when he was a student at Spruce Creek High School, and became more regularly involved in 2006 when Spruce Creek became a Unified Champion School.
A year prior to the Special Olympics, McClelland was assigned four athletes to mentor; two from North Carolina and two from Virginia. McClelland teamed up with the athletes' coaches to receive videos of their strokes, starts and turns so he could send the athletes personalized workout plans.
After several months of remote coaching, McClelland was finally able to meet up with his athletes at the University of Delaware for a week-long training camp. At the camp, he was able to get the athletes in the pool twice a day for practice, as well as get to know them and their families.
“Not only did we want to know if they were physically capable to perform in the games, we wanted to assess if they were independent enough to fly for 14 hours on a plane and function through early mornings and long days,” McClelland said.
In the months leading up to the Special Olympics, McClelland offered constant contact to the athletes and their families.
“My role isn’t just the coaching piece, it is the small talk in between, and making them feel comfortable with being in a foreign country," McClelland said. "We are like a big family that has developed on the world stage. It’s truly incredible."
On March 6, 17 athletes and their coaches from the Orlando area flew to Newark, New Jersey, in preparation of their flight to Abu Dhabi. When McClelland and the remaining Team USA athletes arrived, they attended a send-off dinner. Later that night, something unexpected happened.
All 300 athletes and their coaches from Team USA piled on five tour buses in Newark, and were given a police escort right through New York city into the John F. Kennedy International Airport.
“It was wild, it really set the tone for what was to come,” McClelland said.
Team USA departed the United States to the United Arab Emirates on the world’s largest commercial passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380. According to the Abu Dhabi International Airport, March 8, 2019, was the busiest day on record for arriving passengers due to the sheer demand of the Special Olympics.
McClelland had high hopes for his team, and was confident that they would obtain a gold metal for swimming.
“Our team probably had four of the fastest swimmers in the world, and they had a gold metal lined up,” McClelland said.
During the first leg of the backstroke event, one of the athlete’s goggles came off, which led him to get turned around, and he eventually swam out of his lane. He was disqualified.
Through this ordeal, McClelland continued to have a positive attitude.
“The whole team and crowd cheered him on," McClelland said. "We kept cheering him on, but everyone’s shoulders dropped when the athletes were disqualified. It was so sad for these athletes who had worked so hard for this relay. But that’s the nature of sports. Even in the Special Olympics, you celebrate wins and you’re there to console and congratulate best efforts, and sometimes you don’t come out on top."
After an entire week of highs and lows, Team USA returned home just as they had left, in high spirits, and on the world’s largest plane with a police escort back home.
“The world games were an absolute highlight, win or loose,” McClelland said.
McClelland plans to apply for the Special Olympics in Berlin in 2023.
“I do it because of the athletes," McClelland said. "The organization as a whole makes me a better person."
