Posted: Tuesday 17 November 2009
Kilmarnock College student, Alan Jardine (22) from Hurlford, recently scooped a prestigious prize recognising his swimming achievements at the 2009 UK Special Olympics in Leicester.
Alan, who won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the games earlier in the summer, picked up his recognition award at the annual West Sound and West FM Community Awards Ceremony, recently held at Ayr Racecourse. He received the award for ‘Contribution to Sport’ after a family friend nominated him for the award.
Alan said: “I was surprised but very pleased to win the award. I had a great time and received a trophy and a goody bag full of CDs, I even bought a new suit for the ceremony!”
After scooping the ‘Contribution to Sport’ award, Alan then received praise at the Sports for Special Needs honors evening at the Park Hotel in Kilmarnock. Alan attended the ceremony along with the rest of his swimming club, the Jets. The Jets were also recognised for their achievements on the evening, which included Alan’s college friend and Jets team mate, Craig Ferguson.
Alan added: “It was really good having Craig there with me at the awards ceremony. I love swimming and it’s great when I receive this kind of recognition for it.
I have been competing for a number of years now. I train with the Jets Swimming Team in Kilmarnock once a week, fitting this around my time at college. I am studying Access to Administration and IT at college and really enjoy it. As far as the future goes, I want to continue my studies to a higher level at college and also hope to one day represent my country at the Olympics.”
Alan’s tutor, Administration lecturer Sharon Stewart, said: “Alan is a wonderful student and we are thrilled with his recent award success. He gives 100% commitment in class and I do not doubt that he shows the same commitment in his sport. He has achieved a great deal both in and out of the swimming pool over the years and we wish him the best of luck for the future.”
The Access to Administration and IT course is available on a full-time and part-time basis, and covers areas including E-mail, Word Processing, Digital Computing, and Numeracy. For further information on this course or any other courses available for study at Kilmarnock College, please contact 01563 523501 or visit www.kilmarnock.ac.uk.
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For more information, contact:
Denise Clark, Halogen Communications, (T) 0131 202 0120 (F) 0131 225 3757 (E) denise@halogencom.com