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Destrehan teenager one of 8 swimmers to compete in 2023 Special Olympics World Games

DESTREHAN, La. (WGNO) — Every day — two hours a day, seven days a week — Destrehan 19-year-old Mikey Love makes a big splash.

A Special Olympics star, Mikey has brought home enough gold medals to fill a swimming pool. Mikey has autism, never speaking a single word until he was five — about the same time he took his first swim.

Today, he’s gotten so good at the backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle that Mikey qualified to be on the National Special Olympics team. Next year, he will be one of eight American swimmers to make a splash at the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin.

Out of the water, Mikey has other aspirations for his life. At Delgado Community College in New Orleans, he’s a freshman studying cybersecurity. He says wants to find scammers and stop hackers in their tracks.

People used to say that he couldn’t do anything. He proved them wrong.

By doing something. By just being himself. By just being Mikey.

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