Joseph and Matthew Guichard are 17-year-old twin athletes from St. Charles Parish who have competed with the Special Olympics since the age of 8.
The two have competed together for years in a variety of sports, but their love of swimming and willingness to work at it has led them to great success both with the Special Olympics and outside of it.
“Joseph and Matthew are also students at Destrehan High and have seen an outflowing of support from friends and family for their love of aquatics,” said Special Olympics Louisiana spokeswoman Casey Minton. “They have both been swimming since the age of three. They compete in a host of other sports such as basketball, bocce, softball, and tennis, but both have shared a love for swimming and basketball since the very beginning.”
As a result, Minton notes, both athletes are extremely talented in aquatics and have made their varsity aquatics team at Destrehan. Both are members on the St. Charles Parish unified aquatics team competing in events such as 4×25 unified free relay, 100 meter freestyle, 50 meter butterfly and 50 meter freestyle. They’ve both placed in their events and are highly respected as athletes among their peers, she added.
They are two of the 254 athletes in St. Charles Parish who compete for Special Olympics Louisiana (SOLA), which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for all children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in sharing of gifts, skills & friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes and the community.
Minton believes that the element of sports competition is only the start when discussing the benefits the organization provides.
“We are much more than sports. We build self-esteem, we give persons with intellectual disabilities a purpose, they develop friendships and the skill sets they gain, transfer to job settings,” Minton said. “50 percent more Special Olympics athletes have jobs than do persons with intellectual disabilities who are not in our programs.”
The overall goal of the Special Olympics, Minton said, is to help bring all persons with intellectual disabilities into the larger society under conditions where they are accepted, respected and given a chance to become productive citizens.
There are 100 Special Olympics competitions each year and 50 training schools held throughout the state for those who would like to coach.
Minton credited the many volunteers who work with the organization with making a huge impact and making what SOLA does possible.
“We have over 15,000 dedicated and generous volunteers in Louisiana that contribute their time and expertise to help us reach as many athletes as possible,” Minton said.
There are several programs under the Special Olympics umbrella, such as the Young Athletes program, which serves ages 2-7. Competitions begin at age 8 and with no upper age limit. There is also the Project Unify program, which aims to reach out to youth to break down barriers and stereotypes.
She added the organization is always on the lookout to bring more athletes into the fold. There are 124,851 people with intellectual disabilities in Louisiana who qualify but are not participating in one or more of their programs.
For more information, visit www.laso.org or call 1-800-345-6644.
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