95 Athletes from all over Galway will be taking part in the Special Olympics Ireland Games in Dublin next month. All athletes had to qualify from the Connaught Games that were held throughout last year. In total 225 athletes will represent the province in 14 sports.
The 2018 Special Olympics Ireland Games will take place from the 14th to the 17th of June and will be supported by 104 coaches and official delegates who will be with the team. For 98 of these athletes it will be their first Ireland Games and for fifteen it will be their fourth having taken part in the games previously in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
The Official Launch for Team Connaught takes place on Friday Week in the Indoor Arena in Athlone IT from 7-9pm.
Fast Facts
When: Thursday 14th – Sunday 17th June 2018
Who: 225 Connaught athletes, 104 Coaches and Official Delegates
Sports:
Athletics 33
Gymnastics 11
Badminton 15
Kayaking 5
Basketball 20
Swimming 32
Bocce 9
Ten pin Bowling 22
Equestrian 10
Table Tennis 12
Football 24
Pitch and Putt 5
Golf 16
MATP 12
Counties Involved
Co. Galway 95
Co. Leitrim 1
Co. Longford 7
Co. Mayo 43
Co. Roscommon 17
Co. Sligo 27
Co. Westmeath 35
Interesting Facts:
Youngest Athlete: Harry Hasson is 9yrs old and from Athlone SOC. Harry is participating in Athletics
Oldest Athlete: Jimmy Rainbow who is 76 is from Horses Connect, Galway. Jimmy is participating in Equestrian.
Ninety Eight athletes are attending their 1st Ireland Games.
Fifteen athletes are attending their 4th Games (2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018)
Three sets of siblings will be attending the Games; John & Kevin Jones from Mayo, Bartley & Catherine Conneely from Galway and Joe & JP Shaw from Longford.
In fact, the Shaw brothers have attended the last 5 Ireland Games together.
Two brothers will be attending the games. However Kevin O’Halloran will be representing Munster in Athletics and Stephen O’Halloran representing Connaught in Swimming.
Training: Over 70 collective sessions will take place across all the sports in preparation for the games in June as well as the athlete’s weekly club training which they must maintain as part of their overall preparation.
Roscommon athlete Aoife Hegarty is attending the games in Swimming. On top of her training for the games Aoife has recently completed the Dublin City Marathon for a local charity ‘Join Our Boys Trust’. A fantastic achievement and no doubt it will stand to Aoife in the pool in June.
Coaches: 40 coach/chaperones are going to their 1st games, with 15 coach/chaperones going to their 4th Games.
