Fredericton’s own Jesse Canney is bringing home some hardware from the 2019 Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi.
The 22-year-old competitive swimmer has won three gold medals and a silver at the games and his mother, Pamela Moxon, says he is soaking up the glory.
“Going in, we really didn’t know what the competition was going to be like and we didn’t even know if he would win one medal and to come out with four is just a miracle,” she said.
It’s a miracle that he made happen with a whole lot of work leading up to the games. Moxon said that her son trained nearly every day — sometimes twice a day — to prepare.
Her son was born with autism and she says that as a toddler, he struggled to keep his energy in check.
“Big safety risk. He has run away a few times and a 911 call one time and he was four kilometers back in the woods and snow when he was seven. It’s been a rough road,” she said.
But once he hit the water, she says there was no looking back.
“He uses all that energy now for the pool,” she said.
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Canney won a silver in the 400-metre freestyle event and three golds: one in the 800-metre freestyle, on in the 1,500-metre top divisions and one in the 4×100 medley relay with his teammates.
His Special Olympics coach, Carla Dueck, says it’s been an amazing experience to see him do so well at the games.
“For me to see one of my swimmers swim at this caliber and I just couldn’t be more proud of him,” she said.
The young man who grew up struggling to be around crowds is now now a Special Olympian and coach Dueck says he is having the time of his life.
“He’s been interacting with the crowds when his name is called and just the smile on his face waving. It is just tremendous and it’s not fake. It’s genuine,” she said.