More than 200 athletes from northeast Illinois gathered at the Lake Forest College Sports & Recreation Center on Saturday, March 19, for the Special Olympics Illinois District F Aquatics Competition.
Special Olympics athletes (ages 8 and older) competed in aquatics events in divisions based on ability level, age, and gender. The meet was one of six district aquatics competitions taking place in Illinois. Event winners are eligible to advance to the State Summer Games competition June 10-12 at Illinois State University in Normal.
Approximately 120 Lake Forest College students, including the Alpha Phi sorority and Forester athletes from numerous sports, volunteered their time to participate in the worthwhile event. The College's swimming & diving team peformed the majority of duties involved with running the meet, including lifeguarding, timing, announcements, officiating, and running the automatic timing system.
Lake Forest is just one of more than 200 NCAA Division III insitutions to partner with Special Olympics and has been involved with the organization for nearly a decade. This year the NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee announced the division's partnership with Special Olympics, hoping to not only increase fundraising efforts, but also establish hands-on interactions between Division III student-athletes and Special Olympians.
"We were very excited and proud to act as the host site for this wonderful event," began Lake Forest College Associate Athletic Director Portia Hoeg. "Our student-athletes did a fantastic job of helping make the day a success and we look forward to continuing our strong relationship with Special Olympics. It would be an honor to host this event and others like it in the future."
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| Photos by Scott Sanford |
