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Brendan’s Going To LA For Special Olympics

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Brendan O'Connell will be competing in the 1500m swim event at the Special Olympics in Los Angeles in July. Photo by Gvain O'Connor.
Brendan O’Connell will be competing in the 1500m swim event at the Special Olympics in Los Angeles in July.

FLYING the Kerry flag at the Special Olympics this summer in LA will be Oakview swimmer, Brendan O’Connell.

The member of Kerry Stars Special Olympics Club is the sole representative from  Kerry who will compete for Team Ireland.

Brendan will be gunning for gold in the 1500 metres swim. No stranger to the big stage, the 29 year old swam at the 2006 Belfast games and was part of a winning relay team.

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“I am very honoured to represent my family and friends and my country,” said Brendan, who is the son of Liz and Michael O’Connell.

The multimedia and graphic design student in Tralee Community College, will be upping the ante in training over the coming months in preparation for for the games which get under way at the end of July. Until then, Brendan will be in the pool three nights a week, doing 90-100 lengths a session.

In total, 88 athletes will head to the summer games in Los Angeles, which will also welcome 7,000 athletes from 177 countries to compete.

Over 30,000 volunteers, including 200 from across the island of Ireland the Games will be the largest sports and humanitarian event anywhere in the world in 2015, and the single biggest event in Los Angeles since the 1984 Olympic Games.