Special Olympics Athletes Arrive in SB July 21-24

One hundred Special Olympics athletes arrive July 21 for a four-day visit to Santa Barbara, one of 100 Host Towns in California, before competing in the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles July 25–August 2. The largest sporting event in Southern California since the 1984 Olympics, the 25-sport competition includes 7,000 athletes and 3,000 coaches from 177 countries.

The Santa Barbara delegations come from Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and St. Kitts and Nevis. The athletes will stay at Westmont, use the college’s facilities for training, and tour Santa Barbara with a dinner dance at the Cabrillo Arts Center, trips to the Museum of Natural History and the Santa Barbara Zoo, and a barbecue on Leadbetter Beach.

One Santa Barbara event will be open to the public on July 22. The Special Olympics athletes will meet and train with elite athletes from the Santa Barbara Track Club, including: Barbara Nwaba, Lindsay Lettow, Lindsay Schwartz and Tom FitzSimons from Team USA; Tom Hopkins and Ted Glasnow from the USA Nationals 2015; and Keegan Cooke, the Zimbabwe national record holder in the decathlon. The practice begins at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 22, at the Westmont College Track. Translators will be available.

“After planning their visit for the past year, we’re excited to finally meet these athletes,” says Jerry Siegel, Host Town committee chair. “The Host Town Committee has worked hard to schedule activities that welcome them warmly and show off our city.”

Presidio Sports has recognized the committee as the Volunteer of the Month for July.

“This is a perfect fit for Westmont College,” President Dr. Gayle D. Beebe said. “It so reflects who we are and who we want to be. We’re honored to host the delegations, recognize their athletic and personal achievements, and support the outstanding work of Special Olympics.”

At the World Games, the Santa Barbara delegations will compete in a variety of events, including aquatics, open swim, athletics, equestrian, golf, bocce, gymnastics, soccer and tennis.

Generous Host Town sponsors include Montecito Bank and Trust (Champion Sponsor) and Pacific Western Bank (Gold Sponsor). Non-profit sponsors have made gracious donations:  Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the Santa Barbara Zoo and Westmont College. American Riviera Bank, Union Bank and the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table support Host Town activities as Bronze Sponsors.

More than 4.4 million children and adults with intellectual disabilities participate in Special Olympics worldwide, with 226 programs in 170 countries. Last year, Special Olympics held more than 81,000 competitions, and some 1.3 million volunteers make these events possible. Special Olympics athletes, who include people of all ages, have an intellectual disability; athletes with physical disabilities compete in the Paralympics.

The public can attend all World Games events in Los Angeles free or follow the international competition on social media and the Internet:

• Facebook.com/LA2015
• Instagram and Twitter: @LA2015
• Active hashtags include #ReachUp and #ReachUpLA.
• LA2015.org
• Download the free LA2015 mobile app available in both the iTunes Store and on Google Play.