AUBURN - From the Weedsport Central School pool, all the way to Shanghai, China, 23-year-old Kelly Schwarting went on a journey filled with discovery and accomplishment.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Kelly Schwarting shows off her four Special Olympics medals at the Auburn YMCA on Friday afternoon.
Kelly Schwarting shows off her four Special Olympics medals at the Auburn YMCA on Friday afternoon.
The Weedsport native recently participated at the 2007 Special Olympics World Games and returned home with four medals..
Schwarting left for the China at the end of September and returned home three weeks later on Oct. 12.
From the moment she learned she had the opportunity to go, Schwarting found herself both anxious and nervous.
“I was really excited about swimming,” Schwarting, 23, said. “ was really excited about going, but I was a little nervous about flying and being away from my parents for so long and everything. But it was really exciting that they asked me to go.”
Schwarting earned her spot after a strong performance at the state games in Albany over the summer.
“I got first place,” Schwarting said. “That was a really good feeling.”
Schwarting's accomplishments came as little surprise to her family.
“She's been swimming since she was two,” said Kelly's mother, Debby Schwarting. “Her brothers swim, it runs in the family.”
Since then, it has been rare when Schwarting isn't in the water, swimming at the Weedsport pool and at the YMCA in Auburn.
“I've just always liked the water,” Schwarting said. “Swimming is something I've done all my life.”
After getting the invitation to be part of the World Games, Schwarting began dedicating more and more time to getting ready, working several times a week at the Weedsport pool with the help of coaches Mary Enge, Dan Carleton, Pearl Simmons and Jen Dalziel.
“They really helped me a lot,” Schwarting said. “They spent a lot of time working with me and helping me get ready for the games.” As eager as she was to get to China to swim, Schwarting said she was also curious to see a new part of the world.
“I thought it would be a really good experience,” Schwarting said.
“I wanted to go and see how they live and what it was like over there and see what the food was like and everything.”
Heading over to China a week before the games began, Schwarting and other members of the USA team had the chance to experience a bit of Chinese culture, along with coaches and host families.
“I was very excited,” Schwarting said. “It was a different culture and the food was different. I don't really like Chinese food too much, there were a few things. But people were really nice and they made a big dinner for us and everything.”
Schwarting said that while it was a bit of culture shock, she was surprised to find so many American places like McDonald's and KFC were there as a little piece of home.
Schwarting was joined by her parents, which gave the family the chance to go explore a little further.
“We got to go on a tour,” Debby said.
“We got to get outside of Shanghai a little bit and see a little more. It was a nice experience. We traveled out of state to see our sons swim, but we never had the chance to do anything like this. It was really interesting for all of us.”
Schwarting also found things a little different in the Olympic-sized pool.
“The starting blocks were different and the pool was a lot bigger,” Schwarting said. “But my coach told me just to focus on swimming and to focus on getting better times and not to worry about winning or my place.”
But even in a strange pool halfway around the world, Schwarting's natural abilities in the water shone through.
Aside form pictures, memories and souvenirs, Schwarting brought home silver medals in the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle.
She also medaled with a third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke and a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle.
“That felt really good,” Schwarting said. “I didn't really know what to expect. There were swimmers from all over the world - Australia and Israel and everywhere - they were really fast. It was really competitive and I was really happy to do as well as I did.”
Much like the Olympic Games, the Special Olympics has massive opening and closing ceremonies.
The USA team was accompanied by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver.
They were also accompanied by movie stars Jackie Chan and Colin Farrell.
But for Schwarting's family, there was nothing that compared to seeing their daughter's accomplishments.
“We were very proud,” Debby said. “We were just so happy to see her do so well.”
The next games are scheduled to be held in 2011 in Athens and Schwarting has every intention of returning to the games to compete again.
“I've been working on doing the mile swim,” Schwarting said. “That is one of my big goals right now, to swim the mile and I want to get to Athens. I'd really like to be able to go to Greece to swim, I think that would be a lot of fun.”
Schwarting left for the China at the end of September and returned home three weeks later on Oct. 12.
From the moment she learned she had the opportunity to go, Schwarting found herself both anxious and nervous.
“I was really excited about swimming,” Schwarting, 23, said. “ was really excited about going, but I was a little nervous about flying and being away from my parents for so long and everything. But it was really exciting that they asked me to go.”
Schwarting earned her spot after a strong performance at the state games in Albany over the summer.
“I got first place,” Schwarting said. “That was a really good feeling.”
Schwarting's accomplishments came as little surprise to her family.
“She's been swimming since she was two,” said Kelly's mother, Debby Schwarting. “Her brothers swim, it runs in the family.”
Since then, it has been rare when Schwarting isn't in the water, swimming at the Weedsport pool and at the YMCA in Auburn.
“I've just always liked the water,” Schwarting said. “Swimming is something I've done all my life.”
After getting the invitation to be part of the World Games, Schwarting began dedicating more and more time to getting ready, working several times a week at the Weedsport pool with the help of coaches Mary Enge, Dan Carleton, Pearl Simmons and Jen Dalziel.
“They really helped me a lot,” Schwarting said. “They spent a lot of time working with me and helping me get ready for the games.” As eager as she was to get to China to swim, Schwarting said she was also curious to see a new part of the world.
“I thought it would be a really good experience,” Schwarting said.
“I wanted to go and see how they live and what it was like over there and see what the food was like and everything.”
Heading over to China a week before the games began, Schwarting and other members of the USA team had the chance to experience a bit of Chinese culture, along with coaches and host families.
“I was very excited,” Schwarting said. “It was a different culture and the food was different. I don't really like Chinese food too much, there were a few things. But people were really nice and they made a big dinner for us and everything.”
Schwarting said that while it was a bit of culture shock, she was surprised to find so many American places like McDonald's and KFC were there as a little piece of home.
Schwarting was joined by her parents, which gave the family the chance to go explore a little further.
“We got to go on a tour,” Debby said.
“We got to get outside of Shanghai a little bit and see a little more. It was a nice experience. We traveled out of state to see our sons swim, but we never had the chance to do anything like this. It was really interesting for all of us.”
Schwarting also found things a little different in the Olympic-sized pool.
“The starting blocks were different and the pool was a lot bigger,” Schwarting said. “But my coach told me just to focus on swimming and to focus on getting better times and not to worry about winning or my place.”
But even in a strange pool halfway around the world, Schwarting's natural abilities in the water shone through.
Aside form pictures, memories and souvenirs, Schwarting brought home silver medals in the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle.
She also medaled with a third-place finish in the 100 breaststroke and a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle.
“That felt really good,” Schwarting said. “I didn't really know what to expect. There were swimmers from all over the world - Australia and Israel and everywhere - they were really fast. It was really competitive and I was really happy to do as well as I did.”
Much like the Olympic Games, the Special Olympics has massive opening and closing ceremonies.
The USA team was accompanied by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver.
They were also accompanied by movie stars Jackie Chan and Colin Farrell.
But for Schwarting's family, there was nothing that compared to seeing their daughter's accomplishments.
“We were very proud,” Debby said. “We were just so happy to see her do so well.”
The next games are scheduled to be held in 2011 in Athens and Schwarting has every intention of returning to the games to compete again.
“I've been working on doing the mile swim,” Schwarting said. “That is one of my big goals right now, to swim the mile and I want to get to Athens. I'd really like to be able to go to Greece to swim, I think that would be a lot of fun.”
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