Swimming

The Atheletes

Andres Miyares

My name is Andres Miyares and I have Down Syndrome. My mother helped me to write this story about who I am, and how it feels to be "Downs".

I was born on June 9, 1983 to my parents Ana and Carlos who already had three boys and one girl. My Mom was 44 years old and that placed her in the high percentile of possibilities of having a Downs baby. My mom's pregnancy was normal, she didn't have any tests because she said she was going to have me no matter what. So here I came.
I was born with no physical problems, my heart was fine and everything else that could have gone wrong didn't. The problems I had went along with having downs. I had very low tone in all my muscles, so it made it very hard to sit, crawl and, of course, walk. All through my early months I had intense physical therapy and in spite of it, I still wasn't making the progress that my mom wanted to see.
During these early months, they were able to establish that from a cognitive standpoint I was very high functioning. I seemed to be able to learn and could handle speech very well. This was a big challenge for my whole family because we are from Cuba, that is, my parents are from Cuba. My brothers and sister were all born here in the US but, naturally, spanish was spoken at home making the two languages an important issue in my learning process.
The doctors told my mom that regardless of the fact that I had Downs, I still carried my family's genes. Whatever we had excelled in life, I should benefit from. Having come from a family of swimmers, in the water I went at the early age of nine months. To my doctor's amazement, in three months of swimming I could swim like a frog underwater and even hold my head up. My lack of muscle tone was quickly disappearing. Though they had predicted I wouldn't walk until age two or three, I made liars of them all and started walking at 13 months. Swimming turned me into someone who beat all the odds and still today I continue through swimming to succeed.
Cognitively I progressed like wildfire. Numbers came easy. I related them to the pools I swam. Multiplication tables were a piece of cake, I have to know how many twenty-five's make a 400. How far I can go, only my friend in Heaven knows, but I will keep on trying as hard as I can, because I have something to say. I am Downs, but I can do anything you can do and sometimes just as well.
Its hard to have people look at you funny and sometimes stare, but my mom says to me its because you glow and everyone stares at those who standout for something. I wish sometimes I would look more like my brothers and sister, but I guess I wouldn't be me if I did and I wouldn't be Downs.
I hope this will help to understand how important it is to study about us because there is a lot about us we don't know about. Downs have a place in society. I am proof of that.
My achievements are the pride and joy of my three brothers, sister and sisters in laws, my mom and dad and my eleven nephews and nieces. I have managed to hold two American records in swimmers with a disability in the hardest stroke of all, the butterfly, and on top of that in the 200 butterfly, something that requires lots of guts to do, and in the 100 butterfly. I am also a member of three relays that hold American records. I have never been defeated in the 200 Butterfly in Special Olympics or in US Swimming for disabilities. Recently, I was selected by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce as the inspirational athlete of Dade County and received my award at the Hall of Champions banquet right next to Mary Jo Fernandez. I also like to play tennis and have never lost a singles match in Dade County area games in Special Olympics and placed third in a Southeastern tournament in South Carolina.
I am training very hard to try to make the US team for the Paralympic games in Australia and I know in my heart that if I make or not is not important, the important thing is that I can just like anyone else. If I do make it, I will show the world that where there is a will there is always a way.

Andres Miyares
My name is Andres Miyares and I have Down Syndrome. My mother helped me to write this story about who I am, and how it feels to be "Downs".
I was born on June 9, 1983 to my parents Ana and Carlos who already had three boys and one girl. My Mom was 44 years old and that placed her in the high percentile of possibilities of having a Downs baby. My mom's pregnancy was normal, she didn't have any tests because she said she was going to have me no matter what. So here I came. I was born with no physical problems, my heart was fine and everything else that could have gone wrong didn't. The problems I had went along with having downs. I had very low tone in all my muscles, so it made it very hard to sit, crawl and, of course, walk. All through my early months I had intense physical therapy and in spite of it, I still wasn't making the progress that my mom wanted to see. During these early months, they were able to establish that from a cognitive standpoint I was very high functioning. I seemed to be able to learn and could handle speech very well. This was a big challenge for my whole family because we are from Cuba, that is, my parents are from Cuba. My brothers and sister were all born here in the US but, naturally, spanish was spoken at home making the two languages an important issue in my learning process. The doctors told my mom that regardless of the fact that I had Downs, I still carried my family's genes. Whatever we had excelled in life, I should benefit from. Having come from a family of swimmers, in the water I went at the early age of nine months. To my doctor's amazement, in three months of swimming I could swim like a frog underwater and even hold my head up. My lack of muscle tone was quickly disappearing. Though they had predicted I wouldn't walk until age two or three, I made liars of them all and started walking at 13 months. Swimming turned me into someone who beat all the odds and still today I continue through swimming to succeed. Cognitively I progressed like wildfire. Numbers came easy. I related them to the pools I swam. Multiplication tables were a piece of cake, I have to know how many twenty-five's make a 400. How far I can go, only my friend in Heaven knows, but I will keep on trying as hard as I can, because I have something to say. I am Downs, but I can do anything you can do and sometimes just as well. Its hard to have people look at you funny and sometimes stare, but my mom says to me its because you glow and everyone stares at those who standout for something. I wish sometimes I would look more like my brothers and sister, but I guess I wouldn't be me if I did and I wouldn't be Downs. I hope this will help to understand how important it is to study about us because there is a lot about us we don't know about. Downs have a place in society. I am proof of that. My achievements are the pride and joy of my three brothers, sister and sisters in laws, my mom and dad and my eleven nephews and nieces. I have managed to hold two American records in swimmers with a disability in the hardest stroke of all, the butterfly, and on top of that in the 200 butterfly, something that requires lots of guts to do, and in the 100 butterfly. I am also a member of three relays that hold American records. I have never been defeated in the 200 Butterfly in Special Olympics or in US Swimming for disabilities. Recently, I was selected by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce as the inspirational athlete of Dade County and received my award at the Hall of Champions banquet right next to Mary Jo Fernandez. I also like to play tennis and have never lost a singles match in Dade County area games in Special Olympics and placed third in a Southeastern tournament in South Carolina. I am training very hard to try to make the US team for the Paralympic games in Australia and I know in my heart that if I make or not is not important, the important thing is that I can just like anyone else. If I do make it, I will show the world that where there is a will there is always a way.