Paralympian swimmer Amber Thomas will be the guest speaker at the Special Olympics Red Deer celebrity breakfast June 19 at Westerner Park.
Thomas, who lost her sight at the age of 10 due to a brain tumor, rejoined the Drayton Valley summer swim team just seven months after undergoing surgery.
In 2005, she won three gold and two silver medals as a member of the Alberta Summer Games team and went on to compete with the Canadian para national team. Thomas competed in her first Paralympic Games in China in 2008, placing seventh and 12th in her events.
She won two silver medals at the 2010 long course world championships in the Netherlands and at the 2012 London Paralympics she brought home a silver medal in the 400m freestyle and a bronze in the 200m individual medley.
Thomas currently holds 12 Canadian records and six American Region records. The celebrity breakfast is a fund-raiser for over 200 Special Olympics athletes who participate in 10 sports. Special guests at the breakfast will be the five Red Deer athletes who have been chosen to join Team Alberta for the Special Olympics Summer Games next year in Vancouver as a result of their performances at the Spring Games held in Red Deer in April.