Marina Krygin made all of her childhood friends at the poolside during her brother’s weekly Special Olympics swimming practices. She said she spent so much time with his team that she began to feel like a member.
In high school, Krygin volunteered in her free time, and at UCLA, the microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student now coaches Special Olympics athletes.
The rising fourth-year was one of 45 volunteers at the Special Olympics World Summer Games who commit their time year-round as members of Special Olympics at UCLA, a registered club that organizes weekly practices for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
The club was formed in 1979 when architecture student Brian Ten decided he wanted to connect UCLA student volunteers to individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Though the athletes the club works with haven’t competed in several years, Krygin said the group hopes to enroll both traditional and unified teams in local tournaments next year so they can compete in bigger tournaments like the Special Olympics World Games.
Unified Sports teams exist in all team events and include a mix of athletes with and without intellectual disabilities, she said.
The group’s president for the coming year, rising fourth-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student Andrew Lin, said the group hopes to host a “Unified Intramural Week” next year to encourage more UCLA students to work with Special Olympics athletes.
Lin began volunteering with Special Olympics athletes in high school after tutoring a family friend’s son who was autistic. He said he discovered that Special Olympics combined fulfilling volunteer work with his love for sports.
He added he thinks unified teams help athletes and volunteers form relationships as teammates, rather than creating an athlete and coach dynamic because volunteers become partners instead of taking the lead.
Tabitha Lin, who served as president in the 2014-2015 school year, said she felt appreciated when Fred, a Special Olympics athlete, brought her a handmade bracelet that she said symbolized the friendship that had grown between them.
The recent graduate said she and other volunteers also worked with an athlete, Ferran, to set goals for him to accomplish throughout the year, including reading more and helping out around his house. He decided his last goal on his own – to love himself more.
“It’s a cool connection because you see that they really want to improve and make themselves better at sports and emotionally as a person,” she added.
Club member Martina Penalosa, a rising second-year psychobiology student, has been involved with the Special Olympics since her first year of high school when the friendships she developed with athletes compelled her to continue her volunteer work, she said.
“You’re not focused on the disabilities, you’re focused on the person and what they can achieve,” she said.
Another volunteer, Alex Macedo, said she enjoyed working with Special Olympics at UCLA because it combines sports, volunteer work and a social environment.
The recent graduate said she remembers one basketball player, Reuben, who often felt more comfortable on the sidelines.
Macedo said she remembered one practice where he spontaneously joined a drill before running over to her and poking her in the side.
“He said, ‘Look, Alex, I’m participating,'” Macedo said, laughing. “I didn’t even know he knew my name.”
Tabitha Lin said one of her favorite memories was watching an athlete, George, participate in We Run the City, a race where the winning team is the group with the most participants in the first 100 runners to finish. She said George did not usually run during the practices, but he sprinted as hard as he could toward the finish line when he saw Lin.
“It shows how much athletes and coaches encourage each other and have a limitless capacity for support,” Lin said.
When watching a judo match, Krygin said she she admired another spectator’s enthusiastic cheers for every participant. She asked if he was one of the competing athletes’ fathers, but he shook his head and showed her a photo of his son wearing a gold medal from the previous day’s competition.
“That’s what it all comes down to – good sportsmanship, playing against other people, winning, losing and experiencing all the emotions and bonding that come with that,” she said.
The man’s pride for his son almost had her in tears, Krygin said.
She added she thinks Special Olympics at UCLA gives local athletes with intellectual disabilities a space to be social and active, but the club’s goal for next year is to also help them compete.