Name:
Lauren Hoepp
Age:
43
Hometown:
Hampton
Local Program:
Dover Mighty Seals & Team Portsmouth
Sports:
Swimming & Bowling
This will be Lauren Hoepp’s third year participating in Special Olympics events. At first she was really anxious about practices and competing, but by the end of the experience she had loved every second of it. She said, “It is just so rewarding when you see all of those ribbons and medals you know all of the hard work has paid off.” Lauren has won an array of medals and ribbons in swimming and is really looking forward to when she wins the gold in an event. She also won a gold medal in bowling last year.
Special Olympics has become a big part of her family as well. Her family has been so supportive with her athletic endeavors with Special Olympics and they even try to attend her events when they can. When asked what her favorite thing about Special Olympics is, she responded by saying, “Just being accepted as an equal. Everyone on the team is included, not excluded, which is amazing.”
Lauren is also really excited for her future with Special Olympics. Besides being excited for all of events, she really wants to become a coach at some point. She finds coaching to be really rewarding because you can see the transformation process happening right before your eyes. At one moment you can have an athlete that cannot swim, but through a lot of hard work you can see them grow and become a very good swimmer. She finds that part awesome and cannot wait for the coaching opportunity to present itself.
