Swimmer Maddie Brinkman of Union and coach Debbie Ogden of Ft. Wright have been named to the Team Kentucky delegation that will compete in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games next June in Orlando, Fla.
Brinkman, 21, has been a Special Olympics athlete for five years and has competed in softball and track and field in addition to swimming. She is a member of the Northern Kentucky Dolphins swim team and is making her first-ever USA Games trip. She works at Panera Bread in Union.
Maddie Brinkman (left) and Debbie Ogden (Photos from Special Olympics of Kentucky)
Ogden, who is Brinkman’s coach with the Dolphins, will serve as the Team Kentucky swimming coach for the second consecutive USA Games. Ogden’s swimmers combined for nine medals at the 2018 Games in Seattle, Wash. She has been a Special Olympics coach for 15 years but has been working with individuals with intellectual disabilities for nearly 35.
In addition to Special Olympics coaching, Ogden has also coached the Ludlow/Bromley swim and dive team, the St. Agnes School track and field team and the St. Agnes School fifth grade volleyball team in Fort Wright. She is the Senior Executive Assistant in the Development Department at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati.
Brinkman and Ogden will be joined in the Team Kentucky swimming delegation by Justin Hale of Crestwood, Megan McCormick of Lexington and Alex Stine of Louisville.
“We’re excited to once again have the opportunity to send athletes and coaches to the USA Games,” said Special Olympics Kentucky President and CEO Trish Mazzoni. “Being selected to Team Kentucky for the Games is not only a tremendous honor for our athletes, but it offers a great opportunity for personal growth. We have seen many of our athletes be transformed by this experience at the previous four USA Games that have been held. Plus, with these Games being held largely at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex, it will be a one-of-a-kind environment and a chance to compete in world-class facilities.”
Special Olympics Kentucky will send 34 athletes, seven Unified partners and 16 coaches to the Games. They will compete in eight sports – artistic gymnastics, bocce, bowling, flag football, golf, swimming, track and field and Unified basketball. The total cost of sending Team Kentucky to the 2022 USA Games is expected to approach $100,000. For information about how you can help sponsor the team or to make a donation, contact Trish Mazzoni at 502-695-8222 or tmazzoni@soky.org.
The 2022 USA Games are the fifth such games in Special Olympics history. Past USA Games were held in 2006 in Ames, Iowa; 2010 in Lincoln, Neb.; 2014 in New Jersey; and in 2018 in Seattle, Wash.
The 2022 Special Olympics USA Games, scheduled for June 5-12, 2022, in Orlando, Florida, will unite more than 5,500 athletes and coaches from all 50 states and the Caribbean during one of the country’s most cherished sporting events–the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games. The USA Games will offer 19 Olympic-style team and individual sports, including athletics (track & field), basketball, bocce, bowling, cheerleading, equestrian, flag football, golf, gymnastics, open water swimming, powerlifting, soccer, softball, stand up paddleboard, surfing, swimming, tennis, triathlon and volleyball.
Special Olympics is the world’s largest program of sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Participation in competitive events is open to all individuals eight years of age or older. Training and competition in local, area, state, and national programs is offered year-round in Kentucky in 15 sports.
In addition to its traditional sports competitions, Special Olympics also offers early childhood programming through the Young Athletes Program and medical screenings though the Healthy Athletes Initiative. Special Olympics Kentucky began as a one-day event in Louisville in 1970 and has expanded to serve more than 11,300 athletes statewide annually. Special Olympics celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the global movement in 2018.
Special Olympics of Kentucky
