David Dunn is one of the swimmers who will be competing in the 2025 Special Olympics BC Summer Games

By Tommy Osborne

Special Olympics

Athletes making final touches as they prepare for provincial games

Jul 3, 2025 | 5:47 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – It’s the final stages of preparation for many Special Olympics athletes, as the 2025 Special Olympics BC Summer Games is only one week away. The swimming team is among the many Prince George athletes who are making final touches to their skills before giving it their best shot against hundreds of fellow competitors.

“We’re fine tuning their technique. They’ve gotten the strokes down that they need, now we’re just fine tuning the technique to get a little bit more speed out of them,” said Special Olympics Swimming Team Head Coach Robert Raczki.

“They have been training lots, and I think they will do really well this year,” added fellow coach Dawn Taylor.

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David Dunn is one of several swimmers who will be competing, and his coaches and teammates have high hopes that he will have a strong performance. A swimmer for 16 years, David has been dedicated to improving and growing with each event, which has helped him become a strong competitive swimmer.

“He’s been swimming for probably half his life, and he’s always striving to do better, and his goal is always to get a personal best at every stage,” David’s mother Suni Dunn said.

Suni explained she has two other sons who, like David, are also quite athletic. However, David hasn’t been able to join them in swimming lessons or other sporting events, but Special Olympics gave him an avenue to pursue swimming.

“Somebody we knew said, ‘oh, why don’t you bring him to Special Olympics?’ And we’re like, ‘we didn’t know we could do Special Olympics.’ And it turns out that David took to the water naturally, and he’s been given opportunities to compete at sports. Often he’s just tagging along, watching his brothers compete, but now David is included and he is able to compete as well, and his brothers, they’re now cheering him on,” Suni said.

David’s story is one that can be found among many other Special Olympics athletes, and even within the same swimming team.

“It’s quite rewarding to see them develop, as with any person, but with special needs people, sometimes it has a certain resonance about it where you see them develop and see their confidence come up,” Raczki said.

The athletes themselves certainly appreciate it, and add they’re really excited to compete in the upcoming provincial games and see the strong community support.

“(I’m excited for) my family coming, and my aunt coming and my whole big fam-jam,” said Special Olympics swimmer Dallas Poole.

The opening ceremonies will take place at the CN Centre at 7:30 p.m. on July 10. Additionally, if you are interested in volunteering in the upcoming provincial games, you can visit Special Olympics BC’s website HERE. You can also phone the Special Olympics BC office if you’d like to volunteer at 604-785-9038, which is open Monday-Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

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