Action galore at Special Olympics Seaside Games

It was sheer entertainment for beach goers as they got to witness the skills, thrills and spills from the competitors.

Over 175 athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers participated at the Seaside Games which was the latest instalment of the SOTT ’s Digicel Foundation- sponsored 2016 Community Sports Training Programme.

To make the event possible, there were key collaborations with SOTT and the Beach Soccer Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Caribbean Cross Training, Trinity Masters Swim Club and Trinidad and Tobago Volleyball Federation.

The Seaside Games were introduced so athletes can participate in beach sports to increase the number of activities offered to athletes with intellectual disabilities and also educate members of the public about persons with intellectual disabilities. The Games saw veteran SOTT athlete Kester Edwards help local coaches understand the skills needed to prepare athletes for Open Water Swimming.

In the Open Water race, Nikolai Lalla, who previously won three gold and one bronze medal at World Games, and his partner Christian Marsden were the first across the line in 15 minutes as Trinity Masters Swimming Club combined with Special Olympics in a Unified Team race over the 750 metres course.

Bronze medal recipient at the 2015 World Games, Shania Surujbally, became the first female in SOTT history to compete in Open Water Swimming.

Meanwhile, the National Centre for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) defeated Lady Hochoy School South in the volleyball gold medal game. The national beach volleyball players later joined the athletes in thrilling unified games.

In the beach soccer final, NCPD “A” defeated NCPD “B” to win the gold while Lady Hochoy South got past Memisa in the bronze medal matchup.

Another highlight of the day came when a team of Special Olympics athletes competed against the National Beach Soccer Team.