Every once in a while, a special day occurs in the world of sports.
For some, this could be on the big stage as their favourite team wins a premiership or their most adored player is awarded an individual accolade.
For Julie Keillor, Michael Tracey, Shawn Tracey and the Shepparton Canoe Club, their special day occurred during Michael’s first canoe race at the recent Paddle Victoria Canoe Doubles championships.
Keillor recalls how the day, which now holds a special place in her heart, unfolded.
“The Victorian championships were cancelled in Geelong because of the blue-green algae,” she said.
“Michael wasn’t ready for (race) events then, but by the time they had rescheduled them at Strathcona, the private school in Hawthorn on the Yarra, he was ready to race.
“He was supposed to race with another bloke who became unwell, so I then had to take over, which meant he wasn’t as competitive, but he still enjoyed the race, and we won.
“That was a surprise.”
Twenty-six-year-old Michael and his twin brother Shawn were both born with disabilities; Michael is hearing impaired, has severe anxiety and an intellectual disability, while Shawn has Fragile X syndrome (a genetic condition that causes intellectual disability and other related disorders).
The race — a para-paddler adult 10km event — victory was a proud moment for Michael and all involved. Keillor said the celebrations afterwards pulled the heartstrings.
“Our presentation was really lovely because they called out our names and we ran down to the dais and young Shawn ran down really excited and kept shouting, ‘We’re the winners, we’re the winners’,” she said.
“He got on number two and we got on number one and the principal of the school was presenting the medals and she came over and congratulated Shawn and I explained that he hadn’t paddled and she said, ‘He was the best cheerer’.
“Then, while we were getting our photos taken after our medal presentation, she (the principal) went over to get the next lot of medals and they gave her an encouragement award to give to Shawn.
“He stood on the dais and was presented with that and went, “I’m a winner, I’m a winner’, as he gets excited, and the whole crowd just cheered him wildly and it was just wonderful and I bawled with pride.
“Then we were driving home and we stooped at the halfway ‘servo’ and Shawn took his ribbon out again and was telling everybody, ‘I won, I won’, and three men came over and shook his hand and congratulated him, which was really wonderful.”
While the twins are turning their attention to their next race — Michael’s race is on the Maribyrnong River in June, while Shawn will make his racing debut then too — the Shepparton Canoe Club is hoping to, in the future, run a para-sport option such as the neighbouring Sailability program.
Keillor, who is a jack-of-all-trades having been a forklift driver for 22 years, trained as a bus driver, is a qualified support worker (which is how she met the twins) and a passionate canoer, said that she and the club currently have all-abilities rowing on Monday and Friday afternoons at Victoria Park Lake.
“We are just trying to encourage participation; we have got five all-abilities paddlers coming fairly regularly,” she said.
“On Monday afternoon, we have BIBs, which is bums in boats, and that is our encouragement day as we say ‘come and put your bum in and have a paddle’.
“On Friday, we have Friday afternoon recreation time (FART), so it’s not always about the paddling.
“Sometimes it’s just about sitting on the bank and relaxing for a little while because our work is quite stressful sometimes, so quite often on Friday afternoon they (support workers and their clients) just need to sit and debrief for a bit, but they are still here and encouraging the other guys.”
At the Mother’s Day Classic (a charity walk or run around Victoria Park Lake) this Sunday, the Shepparton Canoe Club has its own version with a paddle on the water, and Keillor encourages anyone interested to head down and give the sport a try.