Special Olympian Alec Cox looks to the next Games
(CNS Local Life): Fresh off his gold-medal-winning performance in the 800m freestyle at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi, along with a bronze in the 4x50m mixed relay and fourth place in the 1,500 open-water event, Alec Cox is already looking ahead to the 2023 Games in Berlin, saying he will be training hard and hopes to bring home another medal for the Cayman Islands.
“I am very proud,” he said in a press release. “Hard work pays off. It was very exciting going there. It was my first time going to the United Arab Emirates. I have been with the Special Olympics since 2008 but my first World Games was in 2015 when it was in Los Angeles and I competed in basketball. That’s where I got my first bronze,” he said.
Cox has been training ever since getting involved in serious competitive swimming at the age of 12, back in 2008, stated the press release. “I was coached by Miss Penny McDowall, who just passed away,” he said. “It has been very sad for all of us because she was such a good coach.”
When he isn’t training or representing the Cayman Islands overseas, Cox (23) works at the Cayman Turtle Centre, where he dons scuba gear to clean out the algae from the sides of the tanks and from the big windows which enable visitors to watch two nurse sharks swimming around.
“I’m not scared of sharks, unless there’s a great white,” he said, though admitting that the barracuda has made him feel a bit nervous once or twice.
Tim Adam, the centre’s managing director, said of the Special Olympian, “The news of Alec’s great achievement is a huge delight to all of us here at Cayman Turtle Centre. The way his commitment, hard work and practice paid off on the world stage is an inspiration – he has made us and the Cayman Islands proud.”
Category: Local News, Sports, Swimming
