Hezekiah Hewes, a Battle Ground Public Schools Futures Program enrollee, has experienced success in the Washington State Special Olympics State Swimming before, but it has been a couple of years.
Hewes hasn’t reached the state championships in Federal Way for the last couple of years, Chandra Hewes, Hezekiah’s mother, said. After he qualified for the state championships in three events, Hezekiah Hewes swam for a gold medal in the 25 backstroke on Saturday, June 21.
“State is always an exciting time because it’s a full weekend event,” Chandra Hewes said.
The weekend started with the opening ceremonies with a torch lighting by local police officers followed by the Tacoma Rainiers Triple-A minor league baseball team hosting the Special Olympics athletes for the torch run. Chandra Hewes said they do a parade walk around the baseball field that is also included on the jumbotron.
Saturday wasn’t just about the sport for the Special Olympics swimming athletes, Chandra Hewes explained.
“Saturday was the swimming event for Hezekiah, so he started off with his 25 freestyle, which he earned fourth place,” she said. “And then he had his second heat, which was his 25 backstroke, and that’s where he earned his gold medal. And then he finished with a 50 freestyle, and he got sixth place. Then they end the day with a dinner and a dance, and then we went to an ice cream parlor. So it’s a very fun-filled, extremely busy day.”
At first, the officials said Hezekiah Hewes had been disqualified, but they had put him in the wrong lane, Chandra Hewes said.
“So then they had to, like, re-award him his gold medal,” she said. “But Hezekiah does not care about ribbons and medals, anyways, he just enjoys swimming. So I’m always super proud of him anyways, about his sportsmanship. He did amazing, and so we just had a great time there as mother and son.”
After he received his gold medal, Hezekiah Hewes performed the iconic bite check, like any true champion, Chandra Hewes said. She said that after a gold medal at state is achieved, the name of the athlete is entered into a drawing to see if they get to go to nationals. Chandra Hewes added that they are holding out hope they get to attend if he has the opportunity.
“This is our 11th year doing this together, and I’ve always gone with him to regionals, except for this year, his dad went with him to regionals, so I was kind of bummed to miss that,” Chandra Hewes said. “But I’ve always gone to stay with him and we’ve shared this experience, so this is always something fun that we get to do.”
Chandra Hewes helps out as a coach and chaperone for the whole weekend.
She said that Hezekiah Hewes has just one more year to participate in unified sports for Battle Ground High School before he graduates from the futures program, but he can participate in Special Olympics events for the rest of his life.
