His disability does not define him…

This is a wonderful story shared with us by the FINDS group…

It was by luck that Nick Williams picked out of a hat his favorite stroke, the butterfly, to compete in for a Dec. 27 swim meet.
It also was only fitting that he was able to swim the 100 butterfly for his first individual event as a member of the Saucon Valley High School swim team.
Participating in an individual event in a high school swim meet may not seem like a big deal to an average swimmer. However, Nick is not your average high school swimmer.
Nick, 15, has Down syndrome.
After swimming as a member of various relay teams for the Panthers in their first couple meets, Nick got the opportunity to compete in an individual event against North Schuylkill. He was truly excited for the opportunity.
Nick, a freshman, didn’t score any points for Saucon Valley in the race, at least not on the scoreboard.Unofficially, he finished his heat in under two-and-a-half minutes. He was disqualified when he stopped halfway through the race before continuing on and finishing the event. He did, however, score points in the hearts of the swimmers on the deck as both teams cheered him on.
“He just kept going,” senior captain Amanda Long said. “We were so happy that he was doing it and finishing it. You could tell that while he was swimming he knew that everyone was cheering for him. He was having a great time.”
That moment stands as a shining example of overcoming obstacles and pursing a passion.
According to his mom, Melinda, Nick has been “one with the water” his whole life.
“He’s been a fish since birth,” she said.
Melinda and her husband, Rich, have had Nick in the water since he was six months old. He has never looked back.
“We had him learn how to swim because it is a life skill that everyone should know,” Rich Williams said. “Every kid that has special needs can have different things they can do better than the other kids, and swimming he can do.”
Nick has taken private swimming lessons for the past six years with the last four being at Swim-in Zone in Center Valley with Eva Kook.
“It’s been a really neat adventure,” Melinda Williams said. “She’s helped Nick get to where he is today.”
Thanks to Kook, Nick has mastered all four strokes and flip turns, which he says he enjoys.
Daxton Scholl, a junior on the swim team, first encountered Nick a year-and-a-half ago while working at Swim-in Zone.
“He can do better flip turns that I can,” Scholl said. “His form is perfect. It’s just a matter of incorporating everything together. I can’t wait to see him as a senior and see how good he is swimming.”
Two aspects Nick struggles with are speed and jumping off the blocks; however, he’s working on improving in both areas.
He’s only been diving for the past three years and never had the opportunity to jump off the blocks until joining Saucon Valley’s team. Currently, he begins his races by jumping off the side of the pool.
“It won’t be overnight, but once he gets (jumping off the blocks), he’ll get it,” Rich said. “It’s the technique that he has to work on. Until he understands what it is supposed to feel like it will take a while.”
One of the biggest improvements Scholl has seen in Nick in the time he has known him is his endurance.
“He’s gotten stronger as a swimmer,” Scholl said. “Seeing him come and do just about a full high school practice is amazing.”
Although Nick has been swimming all his life, it wasn’t until Melinda read about Patrick Lund in 2008 that the idea to have Nick swim for the high school team came about.
Lund, who also has Down syndrome, was swimming for Liberty at the time and had recently competed in his first 500 freestyle race after swimming in mostly 100 and 200 freestyle events.
“You never know when you are going to find your inspiration,” Melinda said. “We never doubted that Nick couldn’t do anything. We just knew it would take a lot of time to get there. When we read the Patrick Lund story in the newspaper I realized that Nick could have that opportunity, too.”
Melinda also credits Karen Gaffney for inspiring her to have Nick join the team. Gaffney has Down syndrome and in 2001 was part of a six-person relay team that swam across the English Channel.
Nick also plays other sports.
For the past four years he has participated in The Miracle League in Trexlertown, a baseball league for those with special needs. He also plays soccer for TOPSoccer in Allentown, another special needs league.
This past summer he was a member of a Special Olympics 3-on-3 basketball team in Bethlehem that placed third in the state tournament.
Nick also enjoys kayaking, bike riding, camping as well as hiking. In October, he went on a 20-mile hike along the Delaware River to complete his Boy Scouts hiking merit badge. Nick has achieved the rank of First Class and is on course to be an Eagle Scout just like his dad.
Express-Times Photo SUE BEYERSaucon Valley swimmer Nick Williams in the pool during practice on Friday morning.However, swimming is his favorite activity. It’s also the first time he is mainstreaming in sports.
Melinda admits she was unsure of what to expect when Nick signed up for swimming. She was just thankful he was going to be on the team and hoping for him to participate in a meet or two. However, she said coach Kim Moncman didn’t hesitate to say Nick would be in the lineup every meet.
“(Kim) said, ‘Well, he’s going to be in at least two events every meet,'” Melinda said. “I was taken back. I couldn’t even imagine that he would be in a typical sport not the special needs basketball, special needs soccer or special needs baseball, but a typical high school team sport and Nick Williams, who happens to have Down syndrome, gets to swim just like everybody else.”
It’s not just the physical aspect of swimming that Nick is enjoying. He also is having fun with his teammates, whom he considers his friends.
“He loves the camaraderie,” Rich said. “He likes being around his peers. He gets so much from just being there and listening to them. He feels ‘I’m just like you.'”
His teammates and coaches like having him around and treat him the same as everyone else.
“The whole team supports him,” Moncman said. “They don’t let his disability define him. I yell at him just like the other kids.”
“We love that,” Melinda said. “He struggles often with speech, but in the water he is equal with everybody else.”
That support became quite evident as he swam the butterfly in late December. When he stopped 50 yards in, it was his teammates who encouraged him to finish. And when he climbed out of the pool his teammates were there with celebratory high-fives.