Three Peterborough Special Olympics Swimmers to Represent Peterborough At Nationals In Alberta

Local swimmers Tessa Scates, Breanne Mackenzie and Steve Caban are ready to make a splash, representing Peterborough and Team Ontario at the Special Olympics Canada Summer Games in Medicine Hat, Alb.

Tessa Scates (left), Breanne Mackenzie (middle) and Steve Caban (right) commemorated with medals of swimming 1700+, 500 and 550 lengths respectively as Special Olympic Swiimmers. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The athletes travel this Sunday, with the games running from Aug.11 to 15. The last time Special Olympics Canada held National Games was in 2018 in Antigonish, N. S.

Each swimmer has trained at the Trent University pool since November. Each athlete was given a medal to commemorate the number of lengths they swam, training for the event.

“They love swimming; that is their passion,” said Debbie Quinlan, head coach. “They love not only swimming but the camaraderie so they’ve been training hard.”

“It’s really been remarkable to see their growth, not only in their strength and their bodies changing and their muscles growing and all of that but also the excitement building as we are getting closer to the games,” explained Jenn Scates, team manager.

All photos by David Tuan Bui.

Each athlete has qualified to compete in four different events including the 50 metre freestyle/back, 100 metre freestyle/back/breast/I.M. and 200 metre freestyle.

Caban is no stranger to high-profile competition. He represented Canada at the 1999 World Special Olympics Summer Games in North Carolina. He competed at the 2005 World Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, winning gold in the 5K cross-country, fourth in the 1K and fifth in the 4x 1K relay. He has also medaled in the 2009 Winter Games in Boise, Id. and won bronze in cross-country skiing at the 2013 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Caban was inducted into the Peterborough and District Sports Hall of Fame as a Special Olympian in 2024.

He says he uses his experience to mentor his teammates and enjoys having them on the team.

“(I like) helping other athletes out making new friends,” explained Caban.

For Scates and Mackenzie, it is their first national competition. Both of them want to achieve new personal best records when they travel to Alberta.

“(I want to) Try to beat all my times,” explained Scates.

“My goal is to do my absolute best and beat some of my times but I’m just looking forward to having the best time ever,” said Mackenzie.

All three athletes have one common goal: to have fun and make new friends.

“They boost each other up, they pump each other up and they show that after practice, Jenn has each one of them tell each other about what they’ve done great that day at the practice. It’s more than just about swimming; they are inspiring each other. That’s what’s so exciting. You could have somebody come in last place, and the whole pool deck is cheering them on. That’s what’s so exciting about Special Olympics: everyone is a champion.”

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