Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 6, 1995 TAG: 9507060109
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TONYA WOODS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For Perrin, a two-time gold medalist in bowling for the Virginia Special Olympics, bowling a good game takes a lot of concentration.
``The best way to bowl is to not pay attention to nobody,'' he said. ``Just get in there and bowl.''
For Thompson, who has won a gold medal at the Virginia Special Olympics for swimming, aquatics should be plain and simple.
``I like to get in, get done and go home,'' said the Madison Middle School sixth-grader.
It's these attitudes that have helped Thompson and Perrin become the only Roanoke athletes at the 1995 Special Olympic World Summer Games in New Haven, Conn., through Sunday. Forty-two other athletes from Virginia also are competing.
To qualify for the games, participants must have won a gold medal in their state-sponsored Special Olympic Summer Games. Perrin placed first out of 102 bowlers, and Thompson placed first out of 134 swimmers in this year's Virginia games.
``People think this is no big deal,'' said Mike Baum, spokesman for the Virginia Special Olympics. ``But it is really a huge event.''
Thompson and Perrin are joining 7,200 athletes from 145 countries including Canada, Mexico, Spain, Great Britain and several in Africa. Nearly 500,000 spectators are expected as the athletes compete in track and field, basketball, gymnastics, weightlifting and even roller skating.
During a recent Saturday afternoon practice, Perrin paid no attention to the loud sounds of bowling balls knocking against pins. He was busy focusing on the 10 pins in front of him and how he would knock them all down.
``You can't always get them all,'' he said. ``I'll get this one by rolling the ball at a 45-degree angle,'' he said, as he mapped out a strategy to clip one pin that was left standing in the right corner.
As his bowling ball tumbled toward the lone pin, Linda Maness, Perrin's coach, said, ``He taught himself how to bowl a strike. And he always gets his spares.''
This time was no different. After the pin was leveled, Perrin threw his hands in the air, smiling with confidence.
``He's expected to do really well in the Summer Games,'' Maness said. ``He has excellent concentration.''
Perrin was introduced to bowling when he was in the ninth grade. He's been bowling with the Special Olympics for almost three years and has bowled about five perfect games.
Perrin was eager to compete in New Haven, saying he was ``ready to go up there and win another gold medal.''
While Perrin gives his best on hardwood, Thompson takes to the water for her sporting pleasure.
Although she started swimming three years ago in a beginner's swim class at Fallon Park Elementary School, Thompson says being in the water has never frightened her. In May, however, she encountered a wave in the Atlantic Ocean at Virginia Beach that almost took her breath away.
``I was swimming in the ocean, and a big wave came,'' she said excitedly, recalling her first view of the ocean. ``I got scared. So then I got back in the plain water in the swimming pool.''
As she glides from one end of a swimming pool to the other, she either surprises or delights those watching.
``She's a real hard worker,'' said Kathy Tucker, Thompson's part-time coach.
Thompson competed in a swim meet while in Virginia Beach. She swam the 100-meter freestyle in 2:16, placing first in the competition.
A mere month later, Thompson swam that same distance in just two minutes.
``She knocked 16 seconds off her swimming time in one month. That's pretty impressive,'' Tucker said. She added, however, that Thompson ``is a little nervous about being so far away from home for the first time'' in Connecticut.
As Thompson chattered about doing the backstroke and learning how to dive from a diving board, her excitement about the World Summer Games was evident.
``People from all over are going to be there,'' Thompson said.
by CNB