Wellington resident Rebecca Health is swapping the beach for the training pool this summer in a bid to make it to the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles, USA in 2015.

Rebecca has been swimming with Special Olympics New Zealand, an organisation that provides sports and leadership training for people with intellectual disabilities, for the past seven years.

“It’s my dream to go to LA. I’ve been to regional and national games with my swimming. The next step is the World Games. I’m also looking at the next National Games in Dunedin in 2013. My best stroke is backstroke, my muscles in my legs make me go fast; but I prefer freestyle,” she says.

“I train for an hour every Sunday at Kilbirnie Aquatic Centre and will be increasing my training over summer to bring down my times.”

Over the past two years Rebecca has seen many of her goals come to fruition, including independent living and employment.

She moved out of home last year and now lives independently in Tawa with flatmates, and commutes daily to Wellington High School where she works as a teacher-aide.

“I take a train and a bus to work. This year I was working with 11 students and next year that will increase to 14. The students are all ages from 13–21 and range in ability. Half of them are involved with Special Olympics New Zealand as well so there’s quite a good community. We take part in several Special Olympics school events throughout the year,” she says.

Outside of work and swim training Rebecca is also kept busy as a Global Messenger, a role that sees her speak to community groups and corporate events about Special Olympics New Zealand and its work. This role has seen her meet a range of people, including Prime Minister John Key.

“It’s been a busy year and it has gone really fast. I was recently in Auckland speaking to a group of potential sponsors and have been involved in swimming events. I’ve got until 30 January off work so plenty of time to train and relax. I’ll be mainly in Wellington but we’ll see what the weather does over summer,” she says.

You can also read Rebecca's story in a recent article in The Wellingtonian.