Kai Swims at the Illinois Special Olympics

Kai's victory in the 100M freestyle at our region meet back in March qualified him to swim at the state championships of the Illinois Special Olympics. He would be swimming in the 100 and 200 meter freestyle events.

Having won at regionals, Kai was more excited to swim at state, but anxious as well. But he had several good weeks of practices and was bringing down his times quite frequently.

The State meet would be held in Bloomington-Normal, nearly a three-hour drive downstate from where we live north of Chicago. We went down on Friday afternoon, and after a relaxed time at the hotel pool where Kai practiced his flip turns, we went for dinner. We wanted Kai to have pasta, and settled on an Italian restaurant called Biaggi's, which apparently is a small chain found primarily in the Midwest. We didn't have high expectations for a restaurant in downstate Illinois, so we were pleasantly surprised when our dinner was very delicious.

My wife had scallop risotto, I had fettuccini with lobster, and Kai had rigatoni with Italian sausage. We all loved what we had and decided that we had to try one of their desserts. We decided on bomboloni which is a sugar-cinnamon Italian donut.

Wow, that was good, too! It was like a big-city meal with small town prices.

After dinner we went to see the Opening Ceremonies.

Kai didn't march in with the athletes but we enjoyed watching the ceremony from the stands. Besides the parade of athletes, they sang the national anthem, had the athletes take the oath, and even had stunt dogs for entertainment.

One of the parts I enjoyed the most was when the Olympic torches were brought into the stadium by Illinois law enforcement officers. Law enforcement officers had done a torch run all around the state leading up to this moment. Here, they did a lap around the stadium as the crowd lit up the stands with their cellphone flashlights.

The officers then passed the torch along to some of the athletes for the lighting of Olympic flame.

A fireworks show capped the evening.

We all enjoyed the ceremony and were glad we attended.

The next day would be the day for Kai to swim in his two races.

Warmups was at 8:00 AM.

It was crowded in the pool as many swimmers wanted to use the time to test the waters and warm up their muscles.

Kai would not race until mid morning so we watched some of his teammates swim their events, and all three of his teammates earned gold medals.

And then it was Kai's turn.

His first race was the 100M freestyle. His coach, James, seen below in blue, gave him last minute instructions and encouragement.

And then it was time to race.

Kai is in Lane 3, third from the bottom.





The boy in Lane 7 near the top jumped out to a big lead. As at the regional, Kai swam a strong second lap to close the gap, but this time couldn't quite overtake the leader. He placed second and won the silver medal. We were really happy with the way Kai swam and found out later that he had beaten his previous personal best time by a large margin.

Kai was awarded his medal by one of the law enforcement officers.

Here he is afterward with us.

We only had about an hour for his next race, the 200M freestyle.

While we had thought that Kai would have a good chance to place well in the 100M race he swam earlier, we knew that he would be hard pressed to medal in the 200M as two other swimmers had much faster qualifying times. One of these boys was his teammate, Conner, who won gold in this event a year ago.

Months ago, Conner was much faster than Kai, to the point that Coach James instituted a 'passing game' during practice. If Conner lapped Kai, then Conner would get a hot tub break while Kai had to do more laps. If Kai managed to hold off Conner from lapping him, then Kai would get the break. In recent weeks, Kai had improved to the point where the passing game no longer was feasible as Conner wouldn't be able to lap Kai, but he was still swimming faster than Kai. And so, we thought it would be good if Kai could somehow manage to stay close to Conner and win a bronze medal.

Kai swam in Lane 2, second from the bottom. Conner is right next to him in Lane 3. The next boy after Conner in Lane 4 was the overwhelming favorite. There is another faster swimmer up near the top in Lane 7, but he is in a different division so Kai and Conner are not competing against him.





From the start of the race, the boy in Lane 4 was clearly the fastest of the division and led the entire way. But Kai was managing to stay close to Conner in an attempt to finish second.

During the flip turn after the first lap, Kai took a slight lead on Conner. But then on the next turn, Conner took the lead back. The two were neck and neck for much of the race.

As our attention focused on what looked like a battle between Conner and Kai for second place, we hadn't noticed that up top in Lane 8, there was another boy who was right with these two. And after the last turn, that boy actually got into second place and stayed in second the entire length of the pool. We saw that Kai had taken about a body length lead over Conner, but was still behind the boy on the other end.

As with his exciting race at regionals, Kai had a great spurt at the end and only by stopping the video right at the finish could you see that Kai just out-touched the other boy for the silver medal. It wasn't gold, but it was Kai greatest swimming accomplishment!

You could see that Kai was very happy after the race as he waited for the medal ceremony. He knew that beating Conner was a great accomplishment.

He had won two silver medals at the State meet.

We were thrilled!

Afterward we went to lunch with the entire team, their families, and Coach James. Kai had a Chicago hot dog and he said it was the best meal he had in months. Ha!

I think he was relieved that his self-imposed stress was over, and that he had succeeded in a big way. We kept reminding him that he was able to accomplish this because of all the hard work he had put in.

And then we took one more team photo of the little team that had big accomplishments.

As Kai said, it was one of his best days ever.

Congrats to him and all members of the team!

Why Yesterday was My Wife's Happiest Day

Many hours after Kai's exciting race in the regional swim meet for the Illinois Special Olympics, my wife and I were still on a high. We watched the video of his gold medal winning race a couple more times last night after Kai went to bed.

My wife said that this was her best day as a mom, that this was the happiest she had felt since Kai was born.

I'm sure that many parents know the feeling of joy when their child accomplishes a goal or performs well.

But I'm guessing that only the parents of special needs kids can truly appreciate the way we felt yesterday.

For most parents, there hopefully will be many chances throughout your kids life to experience successes like the one we experienced yesterday. Your child may excel in sports or academics or the arts, and in some cases in multiple areas. Certainly you are happy with every achievement and don't take any of it for granted, but I wonder if, to some extent, most parents can count on knowing that their child will eventually find something in life that they will have success with.

But when you have a child like Kai, where even simple things are a challenge, when a good day at school is when he doesn't disrupt the class, when you wonder if he will be able to get any kind of job let alone have a successful career, then you wonder if he will ever be able to accomplish any big goals. You reset your expectations. You find joy in the little things. You take pleasure in every sign of progress, no matter how small.

For my wife, especially, I think she craved for Kai to experience success at something. And that is why she had such a big desire for Kai to do well in the Special Olympics. He is a good swimmer. And if he could win gold, then maybe he will have higher self-esteem. Maybe he will have more confidence to take risks to pursue his dreams.

And I think his come-from-behind victory did that.

And yes, there's a bit of a selfish element, too, if you can call it that. While we love the achievements of the kids of our friends and relatives, it is a nice feeling to know that Kai's grandparents can brag a little bit about his accomplishment yesterday, just as they have been able to for the many achievements of his cousins.

But in the midst of joy over his winning that race yesterday, we found other things that made us very happy as well.

After Kai had finished his final race, we sat in the stands and watched races that his teammates swam in. Kai cheered loudly and enthusiastically for them. He was genuinely happy when they won their respective races, too. And for a boy who isn't always a good sport in his PE classes, that was so nice to see.

It was also nice that he wanted to say goodbye to all of them when we left, without our prompting.

Later on, at home, he talked about wanting to do more sewing and creating his plushes. He said that he needed to do it now, when he was still a kid, because after he becomes a grown up he might be married and have kids and won't have much time to do the things he wants to do. Wow, that is the most socially-aware comment we ever heard him make.

And so, I hope you all allow us this time to revel in our son's success for this one day at least.

We know that there will be more challenges to come. So we're going to enjoy this while we can! :)

Special Olympics Swim Meet

This was the weekend for the regional swim meet for the Illinois Special Olympics.

Kai had been training for this for a year now, ever since his swim partner Connor won gold in the regional meet a year ago and qualified for the state meet.

For most of this past year, Kai did nothing but complain about his training sessions.

“I’m only doing this for you guys” he kept grumbling. Speaking of his coach, he constantly moaned "James is torturing me and it’s all your fault!”

He didn’t seem to care how well he did. “I just want this to be over and then I’ll give up swimming forever,”

But this week, for the first time, his attitude seemed to change

“Dad, look up the rules because I don’t want to get disqualified.” What? He actually cared about that?!

“Dad, show me the qualifying times of the others in the race.” He saw that he had the third fastest qualifying time of the swimmers in his race. He seemed encouraged that he might have a chance for a medal if he swam his best.

The meet would be held at a nearby college and we arrived at 7:30 this morning to check in. The gymnasium was set up as a waiting area for swimmers and their families.

The swimmers had a warmup period in the pool. Here's a photo of Kai doing a warmup lap.

Kai also got some last instructions from his coach.

We then had to wait about a half hour for the opening ceremonies. But after that, Kai would get to swim in the second race of the day - the 100 meter freestyle.

My wife was particularly anxious. From a year ago, she had been hoping that Kai could win the gold. I just wanted Kai to try his best.

And then it was time for him to race. He seemed to be in good spirits; here he is giving us a thumbs up prior to his race.

And here is a video of the race. Kai is swimming in the nearest lane.



It was a thrilling race. Kai and two other boys were neck and neck right from the start and throughout the first lap. At the start of the second (and final) lap, Kai was just a bit behind the other two in third place. As they did the flip turn and headed back for the last length, Kai was in second place, about a body length behind the leader.

With about 10 meters to go, he put on a last spurt and surged past the other boy and won!

In the video, you can hear my wife cheering for Kai throughout the race and screaming when he won at the end. She later said that even though she wasn't the one swimming, she was exhausted.

It was very exciting, especially as it had been such a close race. Kai seemed thrilled that he had won, clenching his fists in triumph.

Here he is after he was presented with the gold medal, alongside his proud mom.

We wanted to reinforce that this was the result of all the hard work he had put in. He even acknowledged, "This was worth it."

Later in the day, he swam in the 200 meter freestyle and won a silver medal. His three teammates each won gold in their events as well so it was a very joyous day. Here is a photo of Kai with two of the other boys and James, their coach.

By winning gold, Kai qualifies for the state meet in June. Let's hope we don't have 10 weeks of complaining until then. :)

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.

The Busy Last Days of Summer Break

Kai starts school today but he made the most of the last few days of break with a fun visit with his grandparents in Michigan.

Kai looks forward to going to the beach there, and this time he went five times in five days.

Bubbe always has fun activities on tap. This time they went on two different boat rides including this duck.

The duck ride was fun, as was getting ice cream afterward.

Another of Kai’s favorite activities this time of year is going fruit picking. This time he picked blueberries, apples, and peaches.

And best of all, he spent a lot of time with his grandparents, including hanging out on the front porch with Papa.

You would think after all that, he would have been tired out, but as soon as we got home late yesterday afternoon, he wanted to head over to our neighborhood pool to get in one last swim before it closed for the year.

Kai has been a pretty good swimmer for a while now, but this was the first time that he wanted to go to the deep end of the pool and dive in. I was happy to see his courage, until he started to insist that I try it, too.

I am not nearly the swimmer that Kai is now, and going to the deep end of the pool makes me a bit nervous. But what could I say as Kai persisted?

“Come on, Dad, you can do it!”

“I’ll catch you!”

Well, after years of encouraging my son to be brave and try new things, I couldn’t be a hypocrite now. I went over to the deep end of the pool, climbed out, and then dove into the water. And then we each did it over and over again.

Kai also tried the small slide at the pool for the first time in years. In the past, he has always shied away from this little tunnel slide, but once he went down yesterday, he wanted to keep going again and again, alternating between diving at the deep end of the pool and going down the slide.

We stayed at the pool right up until they rang the bell that closed up shop for the summer, making the most of the last moments of summer break.

It was a fitting wrap to summer, one full of fun and momentous times. But it went by fast.

Is it really nine months now till next summer?

Summer Weekend – Strawberry Picking and Water Fun

We went to up to Wisconsin this weekend for our annual outing to pick our own strawberries. The strawberries were the largest we’ve ever seen them. And the fields were crowded with more people than ever.

While the strawberries were large, they weren’t as sweet as ones we’ve had in the past. But Kai wasn’t complaining about that.

Though he did start to grumble about the heat. But after we had picked two boxes of berries, I think all of us were ready to go get lunch at our traditional favorite, The Brat Stop.

After we got home, my wife was ready to rest. Kai was ready to go to the beach.

So he and I went out for a couple of hours. The water was really cold, so after taking a dip up to our ankles, and splashing each other with water shooters, Kai was content to stay on shore and try to skip stones.

The next day, I took him to a birthday party at a home that had a large swimming pool. Kai had a great time swimming and playing with all the water toys, though he seemed pretty content to do his own thing and did not interact much with the other kids.

He’s a happy kid whenever there’s a swimming pool or beach so those will be our common weekend outings this summer.

Ah, if only life were one long summer weekend.

End of Summer, Time Flies

This was the last weekend of the year that the swimming pool in our neighborhood was open. Our son wanted to go there before it closed, so we went for two last visits over the weekend.

For the first time, Kai went over to the really deep part of the pool. This t-shaped pool is tailored for families, with the bulk of the area no deeper than four feet. However, a section at the base of the “T” goes down to ten feet.

Until now, Kai had been too afraid to go past the 5-foot mark. But, on these last visits, he went underneath the rope and ventured over to the deep end.

At first, he clung to the side as he moved along the edge until he came to the 10-foot mark. Later, he swam across using his kickboard. And then, he swam a short distance without the kickboard.

He is now a much better swimmer than I am. Frankly, I don’t like going over to the deep end. But, Kai has conquered his fears of the water and is now unbelievably comfortable.

With the pool closing, it is a sure sign that summer is almost over. In some ways, it feels like summer just began, and so this is a reminder of how time flies.

But I don’t need the changing of the seasons to tell me that. I can see that just by observing how much my son has changed.

And so, as we Midwesterners appreciate summer because it doesn’t last very long, I will also appreciate my son’s childhood, as that too, shall pass quickly.

My Part Penguin Son

Today’s Patch article takes a closer look at Kai’s love of water. Hot or cold, it doesn’t matter. My son loves going to the beach. Click here for the full story.

Rocks at the Beach

It was hot and humid this weekend. Beach weather!

My son has always enjoyed going to the beach, but in past years he only waded slightly into the shallow water and splashed a bit, mostly preferring to play in the sand. It wasn’t all that long ago that he screamed in protest every week when it was time to go to his swim lessons. So, we are amazed at how comfortable he now is in the water.

Although he doesn’t yet have good arm strokes, Kai loves putting his head in the water and diving under.

Our local beach is convenient, but there are a lot of small rocks near the shore that make it a bit painful to walk. It didn’t bother Kai, as he spent most of his time diving down and bringing up rocks.

He amassed a large collection, going back down, bringing up a handful of rocks, and then carrying them back to shore. After awhile, he smartened up and had Dad lug them back to our beach blanket.

After awhile, I realized that he was going to want to bring them all home. I didn’t want to carry all of them back to the car, let alone have them take up space at home. So, I told him that the rocks have to stay on the beach. He got mad, as he had been looking forward to keeping his collection. I reconsidered, and told him that he could pick out ten to bring home.

At National Parks, you are not supposed to take anything, but I don’t know what the official policy is for this municipal beach. I was a bit embarrassed, though, to be seen bagging up the rocks and carrying them out. My wife, though, thought it was cute that Kai swam so well and worked so hard and wanted to bring them home. After thinking about it more, I agree.

I relented and let him pick out a lot more than ten. We ended up filling about three bags. I asked him who would carry these heavy things and he insisted that he would. And he tried. Though seeing him struggle, my wife and I took his share and let him carry the lighter sand toys.

Hopefully we didn’t break any city rules by taking the rocks. Heck, I think maybe they should pay us for cleaning up the beach a bit. But, regardless, I will treasure the little rock garden we’ve started in our backyard as a small symbol of the progress Kai has made with overcoming his fear of the water.