- April 26, 2024
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Edita Lefokovic holds up a sign after her son, Kennet, right, swam the 1,500 meters with a state qualifying time. Kennet actually swam 60 laps, but there was no zero on the flip sign. By Brent Woronoff
Kim Harrell, a Special Olympics mom and volunteer, poses with co-head coach Lil Young. By Brent Woronoff
A Flagler County Special Olympics competition was held at the Palm Coast Aquatics Center on July 31. By Brent Woronoff
Co-head coach Reid Lewis works with a swimmer on her form. By Brent Woronoff
Coach Jane Walter, left, and head coaches Reid Lewis and Lil Young. By Brent Woronoff
Sarah Laloo celebrates with her blue ribbons. By Brent Woronoff
Annalyse Harrell collected some blue ribbons at the meet. By Brent Woronoff
The day that American Bobby Finke won the men’s 1,500-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics, Special Olympics hopeful Kennet Lefkovic swam the same event at the Palm Coast Aquatics Center.
Kennet, 27, swam 60 grueling laps in the 25-meter pool Saturday, July 31, at the Flagler County Special Olympics competition. He also swam the 400-meter individual medley.
“Those are the longest, most difficult events,” said Reid Lewis, the local Special Olympic swim team’s co-head coach with his wife, Lil Young.
The swimmers weren’t competing against each other. They were trying to reach a qualifying time based on their gender and age. Their times set their qualifying scores for the Area Games on Aug. 28 in Jacksonville, where they will compete against athletes from Duval, Clay, Nassau, St. Johns, Flagler, Putnam and Volusia counties. From there they could go on to the State Games in Sebastian on Oct. 2-3. And then they could be selected to be among the 10,000-12,000 swimmers who will compete in the USA Special Olympic Games in Orlando in June 2022. The Summer World Games will be in Berlin in 2023.
With 5 million participants worldwide, Special Olympics is the largest sports organization in the world for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Athletes in Florida range in age from 8 to some who are in their 70s.
Qualifying for this year’s state and USA Games began in 2018. Once athletes reach a qualifying time they still have go through a drawing.
“To be selected as a possible USA representative is a huge deal,” said Paula Ouimette, who is the coordinator for Special Olympics Florida Area 4.
Kennet has already been selected to run the sprint triathlon at the USA Games. He is also trying to qualify in the 1,000-meter open water swim as well as the two events he swam on July 31.
“What he’s achieved through swimming is unbelievable.”
EDITA LEFKOVIC, mother of Special Olympics swimmer Kennet Lofkovic
Kennet, who has autism, swam for the Daytona Beach Speed swim program as well as for Matanzas High School.
“What he’s achieved through swimming is unbelievable,” said Kennet’s mom, Edita.
The county event had no shortage of coaches and volunteers supporting the athletes, including Jane Walter, who is in her first year coaching swimmers after volunteering in other Special Olympic sports. Coach Casey Zmijeski started just last week and was timing individual swims at the county event.
“I swim a ton, and I just wanted to do what I can to help,” he said.
Geeta Laloo, whose daughter, Sarah, has won a gold medal at state in powerlifting, has coached bowling, soccer and swimming.
Head coaches Lewis and Young moved to Palm Coast from Miami in 1997 and immediately sought out the local Special Olympics team. Lewis, who was a four-time national champion swimmer at Indian River Community College in the 1970s, began coaching Special Olympics swimmers in 1983.
“I was coaching college swimming at Miami Dade South Campus. I had the college team from 2-4 every day and my club team came in at 4:30. So for 30 minutes I was sitting around the pool,” he said. “One day a mom came in with her daughter, Andrea, who was 10 or 11 and had Down syndrome. She was trying to teach her how to swim.”
Lewis offered to help and worked with Andrea every day for 30 minutes. After a couple of weeks, Andrea was swimming freestyle.
“The mother told me about a Special Olympics swim meet, and I volunteered, and Andrea won two events,” he said.
The meet took eight hours, Lewis said, because nobody there had ever run a meet before. So Lewis streamlined the meets, and before long he was hooked.
“It’s because it’s just so rewarding,” he said. “The respect, the gratefulness, the camaraderie is better than the pay. And there’s no pay. It’s too bad the bar is set so low for accomplishments. I expect them to get better, and they appreciate that.”
Swimmer Allie Olsen, 34, once told Lewis and Young, “We really like you guys because you treat us like we’re normal.”
“And they are normal,” Lewis said.
