Special Olympics: Matthew Smith ready to represent New Zealand

The New Zealand Special Olympics swim team, Jesse Williams (back) and Haven Drinnan (front), Bella Lammers and Matthew Smith. Photo / Supplied

Te Awamutu’s Matthew Smith and the rest of the New Zealand Special Olympics swim squad will be hitting their straps in Palmerston North this weekend for their final training camp ahead of the World Summer Games in Berlin.

The four-yearly event for athletes with an intellectual disability will start on June 17 and are the largest inclusive sports event on the planet, with 7000 athletes from 190 countries competing in front of half a million fans.

Smith has been part of Special Olympics for 13 years and has been clocking up the laps at the Livingstone Aquatic Centre under the guidance of experienced coach Shelley Blair.

“What I am looking forward to the most in Berlin? Representing my country,” smiles Smith, whose main hobby outside of swimming is music.

Smith will be joined by Manawatū-based Jesse Williams and female swimmers Bella Lammers from Rolleston and Haven Drinnan from Rangiora, who are representing the South Island in the team.

Smith and teammate Lammers both want to follow in the footsteps of their sporting hero Richie McCaw and bring home a gold medal for New Zealand.

Palmerston North-based Head Coach Carla L’Huillier has been providing training instructions to her squad of four swimmers across the country and will put them through their paces at the Makino Aquatic Centre this weekend, before swimming at a regional competition on Sunday.

Coaching for her second World Summer Games, L’Huillier says growing the independence and confidence of the athletes is even more important than winning medals.

“I have experience first-hand how the confidence the athletes gain at the Olympics will help them in the community and in employment for the rest of their lives. This is truly an experience of a lifetime.”