A teenage Tłı̨chǫ swimmer is leaving the 2026 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games with four medals.
“It means a lot to me. I never thought I’d be here, to be honest,” Marcus Wedawin said in a video published by the event’s organizers.
Wedawin won gold in his 200m freestyle final and silver in the 50m and 100m backstroke distances, Special Olympics NWT said. He was also part of a combined 4x50m freestyle relay team with Yukon and BC that finished second.
Wedawin, who has spent much of his life in foster care according to his team, paid tribute to his biological parents, who he said had overcome “struggles in their younger days.”
“My biological family drove 18 hours to come and support me, which is insane,” he said. The games were held in Medicine Hat.
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“It’s very heartwarming to see them come from a long way to see me swim. This is their first time watching me compete.”
His mom, Shannon, told the event’s organizers: “I’m a proud mom, for sure. It makes me so happy. I’m very, very proud of him and all his hard work. We’re all excited. His sister’s excited, too.”
Wedawin was one of four athletes on the NWT team alongside Chelsey Makaro, Josh Boudreau and Grayson Klein. The team returned to the territory on Sunday.
Makaro won gold in 50m and 100m freestyle swimming, Boudreau won his 3,000-metre track event alongside silver in running long jump, and Klein won silver in shot put.
The team’s coaches were Alex Malakoe, Jennifer Waterhouse and Trent Waterhouse, with chef de mission Lexie Letzing.
