Devilfish Swimmers Lend a Hand at the Summer Games of the Special Olympics
Over the weekend of June 6th through June 8th, twenty-one senior-level swimmers from the Westfield Area Y Devilfish volunteered at the Special Olympics New Jersey’s (SONJ) annual Summer Games. The event was held at The College of New Jersey’s campus in Ewing, NJ. The Summer Games are the marquee event of the competition season for thousands of athletes who trained and competed for months to qualify for this statewide event. There were over 2,000 athletes who competed over the weekend.
The Devilfish volunteers focused their effort on the swimming events and had a variety of tasks including timing the races. marshalling swimmers and escorting athletes to the awards ceremony. Swimmer Hannah Koglin shared, “All the moving parts of the meet with all the volunteers made me feel a part of a team and the swimmers were so happy to be there.” Another Devilfish swimmer, Peyton O’Donnell, shared, “I liked seeing all the swimmers so happy after they had finished and seeing them just love swimming.” While Devilfish meets often require a lot of volunteers, the swimmers do not often get to be the ones on the pool deck and behind the starting blocks.
Stephanie Concanon, who was instrumental in organizing the Devilfish volunteers, shared, “One of the many goals of the Parent Assistance Committee (PAC) is to engage our swimmers in worthwhile opportunities to give back to the community and assist in their character development in and out of the pool. As swimmers themselves, this particular experience provided them with valuable insight into a sport dear to their hearts.”
Although it was a long day at the pool, the team enthusiastically expressed their interest in volunteering again next year. "We are very grateful for the support of the Westfield Area YMCA Devilfish team for volunteering at swimming,' stated SONJ Volunteer Manager, Rylee Evans. “Having enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers help to make the competition run so smoothly and provide a great experience for Special Olympics New Jersey athletes. We are excited to have the team volunteer at future swimming competitions!”
All the events over the weekend were completely free of charge for the participating athletes, including food, housing, entertainment, and health screenings. SONJ relies on thousands of volunteers throughout the year, and these opportunities would not be possible without their support. Nearly 3,000 volunteers, including coaches, officials, clinicians, photographers, event support staff, and many others, were on hand throughout the weekend to ensure the success of the athletes' experience.
The Y is the nation’s leading nonprofit committed to strengthening communities through youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. Visit www.westfieldynj.org to learn more about Westfield Area Y programs. Financial assistance is available for YMCA programs and membership to those who qualify.