UPDATED: Enrolled in Swim Training for the Special Olympics

We enrolled Kai in a swim class that is intended to train the participants for the Special Olympics. His first session is Thursday evening and this is the first time we have tried this. We have absolutely no idea how many kids will get to compete, but hoping that Kai will enjoy it and give his best.

He loves being in the water and has become a very good swimmer, but he doesn't like exercise classes or PE so we will have to see if he participates well in this class.

Here is a very brief clip of Kai swimming this past November. This was taken on our Thanksgiving trip when we went out east to visit my sister and her family, and stayed at a motel on our drive back. The pool was small, so he didn't have much space to really get going, but you can get an idea of his ability.



Since this video was taken, his swim coach has taught him the backstroke which we understand is coming along very nicely.

Updated Friday January 26:
We went to the class last night. The class is for eight though only six were there last night. One boy was about Kai's age but the rest appeared to be much older and fully grown up. It was cute when the tallest young man sat next to Kai and engaged him in conversation. They made a funny couple in that Kai looked so small and boyish next to the other swimmer.

When it came time to swim, Kai did very well. The folks who were running the class were very surprised and excited to see how well he swam.
My wife and I don't have many chances to see him swim seriously in a larger pool as when we go on vacation, he usually wants to just have fun than to go all out. But we had his regular swim instructor there with us last night and he got Kai to swim his best. He timed Kai's laps and motivated him to swim faster to improve on his times.

It was very exciting for us to see Kai excel this well at something. For parents of special needs children, I think it can be hard sometimes to see typical children excelling at so many things that your kids struggle at. We have seen Kai have many great struggles with school, and not have particular aptitude for things like sports or music that many kids enjoy. And so, for my wife, especially, it was heartwarming to see that our son has a great talent for something - swimming in his case.

We looked up the records from last year's Special Olympics state qualifying meets and it looks like Kai is fast enough to have a pretty good chance to challenge for a spot at the state meet, perhaps even at several different distances. Unfortunately, we found out that the district meet is at the same time as a family wedding this spring so Kai will not be able to swim at the Special Olympics this year. Hopefully things will work out next year and he can keep improving. Here's hoping.