Olympic athletes take to the water

UP to 170 Special Olympics swimmers from across the north of England will take to the water in Harrogate this Saturday for the 19th annual Special Olympics Yorkshire and Humberside Swimming Gala.

By The Newsroom

Published 16th Nov 2011, 06:00 BST

The event is one of the biggest regional single sporting events within the GB Special Olympics movement and has attracted entries from 17 separate Special Olympics groups from all over the country, including teams from Henshaws College - which offers education for residential and day students with learning difficulties and disabilities.

Mayor of Harrogate, Coun Les Ellington, will be presenting the medals throughout the afternoon

Judy Burdass, Regional Secretary of Yorkshire & Humberside Special Olympics, said: “This is one of the largest entries we have ever had for the event and comes just a few months after some superb medal winning performances by the Great Britain swimmers at the World Games in Athens.

“We might see a future World Games gold medallist on show this Saturday.”

The event takes place at The Hydro between 1pm and 5pm.

Special Olympics is the world’s largest sports organisation for people with learning disabilities.