Cape Region's Ginger Shaud dominates at Special Olympics
Ginger Shaud may have won two silver medals and a bronze at the Special Olympics, but, she said, she expected better.
“I did a little worse,” Shaud said of her expected performance from the dining room table of her home in the Sea Breeze community just west of Dewey Beach.
Ginger’s mother, Karen, quickly chimed in.
“She did great. We’re all so proud of her,” said Karen.
Ginger, 18, who is autistic, was one of four athletes from Delaware to compete in the 2015 Special Olympics World Games held in Los Angeles from July 25 to Aug. 5. There were more than 6,500 athletes and 2,000 coaches representing over 160 countries at the games.
Ginger’s a swimmer. She won a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke and the 4x100-meter medley, and a bronze medal in the 200-meter freestyle. She also received a participation medal for a sixth place finish in the 100-meter freestyle.
A little more than 24 hours after returning from Los Angeles, Ginger was dressed in a white collared polo shirt and navy blue gym shorts with the Special Olympics logo on each. Karen said in the weeks prior to Ginger leaving she received a package with a week’s worth of clothing and the luggage to pack it all.
“It’s amazing,” said Karen.
She said she wasn’t nervous about competing against other athletes on the highest stage. The biggest issue was having to wear the goggles.
“Nope,” she said matter-of-factly about whether she liked them or not.
Karen said she wasn’t as calm.
“It was stressful, but exciting,” she said. “You just never know how it’s going to turn out.”
Ginger was in Los Angeles for 13 days, Karen for eight. The mother said the experience was overwhelming, but Ginger took it all in stride. She said she enjoyed seeing Hollywood, the famous Hollywood sign and Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Ginger was able to make friends with people from all over the world. She quickly rattled off the countries of Sweden, Spain, China, Finland and from the United States.
Ginger is an all-around good athlete. She also participates in basketball, soccer and bowling. Karen said she tries to have Ginger participate in a sport every season.
Swimming is her favorite sport though, because, Ginger said, she likes the exercise and it gives her something to do during her free time.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
