11 Jun 2007 - Andrew's Special Olympics Update

Special Olympics World Games October 2007

Andrew Gray attended a full-team training weekend on 8^th – 10^th June for the Special Olympics World Games 2007 which will take place in Shanghai .

There are 155 athletes in the G.B. team covering 14 different sports such as Aquatics, Sailing, Kayaking, Equestrian, Tennis, Football, Gymnastics, 10-pin bowling, Golf and others.

Andrew is  part of the aquatics team which is made up of only 8 swimmers, 5 swimmers from Scotland (Dingwall, Peterhead, St Andrew’s, Edinburgh and Dundee ) and 3 from England ( London , Cheshire and Grantham).

At the games Andrew will be swimming the 25m. butterfly, the 100m freestyle as well as the freestyle relay.

The team have had a general and a special training weekend together in Middlesbrough which has given them all  an opportunity to meet each other and feel like a team. All of the athletes families have been supportive in attending as well.

The most recent general full team training weekend was in the Warrington and Runcorn areas of Cheshire where each team had the chance to tidy up any problems with their sports, passports or kit which was issued to try on but not keep as yet. The team outfit is dark blue tracksuit bottoms with a white stripe and red writing, white polo shirt with the logo of GB2007 in dark blue and red and a dark blue tracksuit top. They will also have an everyday tracksuit top which has sponsors logos on it. Virgin Atlantic with whom the team fly direct to Shanghai with & Domino Pizza are the main sponsors.

During each sports training session the athletes  had a visit from the Lord Mayor of Halton Borough, which is a local government area just like Tayside. He toured around the various sports venues and met with some of the athletes for photographs which will hopefully appear on the official games website: www.teamgb2007.co.uk, Each athlete had a short chat with the Mayor about their progress in training and what they hoped to achieve at the games.

On Saturday night there was a gala dinner in Manchester hosted by Special Olympics and attended by celebrities, top business people, the mayor of Manchester and the main figures in the Chinese communities. Selected athletes from each sport represented the team and Andrew was the chosen athlete from Aquatics.

The night began with the full team parading into the reception led by Chinese children who were dressed in traditional Chinese costumes and they carried each sports plaque. The Chinese dragon led the team into the function suite and the team then paraded around the tables and left for a Chinese buffet and entertainment at another venue.

The selected athletes then got the chance to meet with the Chinese Consulate and his dignitaries. The dinner was also attended by some well known celebrities such as Roy Barrowclough( Alex Gilroy in Coronation Street), Darren Campbell( Sky Sports presenter), Nigel Blake a famous basketball player with the Manchester Reds team and the athlete who was silver medallist at the Athens Olympics for Synchronised diving, (Andrew hase forgotten his name!!) Andrew, managed to get a few Autographs from the celebrities and spoke to lots of the important people at the function.

The dinner was a very enjoyable experience and gave a taste of Chinese culture. The menu for the evening was Hot and Sour chicken soup, followed by Chinese duck breast with stir-fried vegetables and Soy noodles, followed by Oriental fruit salad(Star fruit, lichee, melon, Chinese gooseberry and star anis). After the meal there was Chinese entertainment with fan dancing and traditional feather dancing, which was displayed and explained on a back drop in Chinese and translated into English. Each person also got a set of chop sticks to try out- Andrew said “I found them quite difficult to use and after a few attempts resigned to traditional knife and fork!!” Everyone also got a fortune cookie which is a traditional Chinese biscuit which when split open reveals a “fortune” this is similar to a Christmas cracker, and a hand made thank-you place card which was made by Chinese children.

Guests also got the chance to take part in some of the Chinese dances. There was also a raffle at £10 for a strip of tickets and an auction which raised £12,000 towards Special Olympics GB team. The lesser items were football shirts signed by Wayne Rooney and some others and a signed England Football from the World Cup. By the time the athletes got back to the hotel it was well after midnight and Sunday was a very quiet day for them as they travelled home.

 This was the last full team meeting before the team gather for the flight. There are a few other activities planned locally for Tayside team members to keep things in the news. September 26th is the next big occasion. The athletes fly down to the Heathrow area to meet as a team on 26^th September where they hope to have another gala occasion when they meet members of the Chinese Consulate.

The team leaves as three groups on 27^th September for a short cultural visit with a host family before the games start on 2^nd – 11^th October.