UTSC recently celebrated the success of Kaley McLean, a UTSC student who competed in the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece.
On Oct. 27 students and faculty gathered in the Attic for a welcome back reception for McLean, a third-year sociology student at Scarborough Campus. Accessability Services and the athletic department there organized the celebration for McLean, who competed in swimming at the summer games.
McLean has swum competitively for almost 10 years. She tried out for the Canadian Paralympic team to compete in Sydney in 2000, but failed to place by less than one second. In April 2004, however, McLean tried again and this time she made the cut.
McLean already held the Canadian record in the 50-metre butterfly and 50-metre backstroke before the games. However, she broke her own 50-metre butterfly record at the Paralympic Games.
“I was really focused. I wasn’t nervous. I was prepared because I had trained so hard,” said McLean. “I went there to do a job and I did it; I beat my personal best.”
Tina Doyle, manager of Accessability Services, and Laurie Anderson, McLean’s training assistant, organized the reception. They displayed McLean’s training and competition suit, her name tag, and pictures from the Paralympics.
Furthermore, friends and professors, along with other UTSC students and faculty, wrote their congratulations in a memory book.
Dressed in her Team Canada gear, McLean spoke about her first year of studies at UTSC.
“I saw the community. I felt the community. I didn’t have to change my dreams at all,” McLean said. “As soon as I got here, everybody was so willing to help.”
Following words from Doyle, Anderson, and McLean, AccessAbility Services presented the olympic hero with the memory book filled with emails and writing from well-wishers. The Athletic Department also presented her with UTSC athletic gear.
The reception concluded with McLean cutting a cake to commemorate her achievements.
