Local bowler wins silver at Specioal Olympics Canada Summer Games

Brandon native David Walwyn capped off an unforgettable experience at the 2026 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games by bringing home a pair of silver medals from Medicine Hat, Alta.

“I’ll never forget that trip for as long as I live,” said Walwyn. “It was a fantastic trip. I enjoyed it, and I made tons of new friends and all that, so it was nice.”

At 66, Walwyn has more than 40 years of bowling experience, having started in 1983. He currently rolls at T-Birds Food Fun Games on a weekly basis. He plays tenpin every week and swaps to five-pin once every two weeks.

The Special Olympics Canada Summer Games is a massive event that brings together more than 1,700 athletes from across the country to compete in a variety of events including basketball, golf, athletics, tenpin bowling and many more.

The games give athletes a chance to test their skills, compete on a high level and qualify to represent Canada on the world stage. Next year, team Canada will compete at the 2027 Special Olympics in Santiago, Chile.

For Walwyn, going to Medicine Hat was an opportunity to compete and have some fun.

“I just like tenpin,” said Walwyn. “I enjoy it and I love the sport.”

Tenpin bowling was the longest event at this year’s Special Olympics Summer Games. The competition ran from Monday, Aug. 10 to Saturday, Aug. 15.

Walwyn competed in multiple events including the singles, doubles and team competitions.

On Wednesday, Walwyn was part of team Manitoba’s four-man squad that also included Evan Kifle, Steve Klassen and Stephen Pohanayko,. The team finished fourth in the event with 1,567 points.

In three series, Walwyn rolled 153, 143 and 104, contributing 400 points on his own. That put him second in terms of team points behind Kifle, who scored 493.

Though the team ended up outside of the medals, they did quite well, finishing middle of the pack.

The next day, Walwyn competed in the doubles event. Pohanayko was once again his teammate. The pair finished second, winning a silver medal with 852 points. As a pair, Walwyn and Pohanayko shared the load with Walwyn scoring 427 points and Pohanayko picking up 425.

“It was fantastic,” said Walwyn. “I was kind of emotional … I came back with something so that was really nice.”

Having competed in two group events, all that was left for Walwyn was to compete in the singles competition on Friday.

At the end of the first series, Walwyn found himself with some work to do. His 111 was on the low end of results placing him seventh out of the group of eight. In the second series he more than made up for it, bowling a 168 — the second-best score of series two — to rocket up into contention for a medal.

He kept the pace high, scoring 167 points in series three, but ultimately it wasn’t enough. Emil Hubert scored a remarkable 181 to bump Walwyn down to fourth place beating him by a score of 449 to 446.

Though Walwyn didn’t take home a medal in the singles event, he was very consistent over the course of the weekend. He scored more than 400 points in every event, and as a result, he finished second in his division for the all-around awards with 1,273 points.

For that, he was awarded his second silver medal of the week. Walwyn said he was especially pleased with the results as they validated the hard work he put in before and during the summer games.

While Walwyn competed in Medicine Hat, his father was at home getting the results when he could. On his return home, Walwyn enjoyed sharing his medals with his father.

“Dad was cheering for me at home, and he was so happy when I came home seeing two silver medals around my neck,” said Walwyn. “He was practically in tears.”

Now that he’s home in Brandon, Walwyn plans to share his medals with the community. He wants to take them to his church and the Salvation Army when he has the chance. Until then, the medals are proudly on display in his home.

The bowling season won’t get started for another few weeks, but when it does, Walwyn is excited to get back into the action.

“We start tenpin in September, and then we do five-pin on October 15, so we start back at that again too,” said Walwyn lamenting slightly that it’s still a ways off.

Walwyn, like many of the athletes who attended the Special Olympics Summer Games, says he had a blast at the event.

Bidding for the 2030 games closed in early 2025, though a host city has yet to be named for the event. For Walwyn, that’s a long way off, and he says he isn’t ready to think about whether he will compete at the event.

That said, he will always hold is memories of the 2026 games close to heart.

“I enjoyed the trip and I’ll never forget it,” said Walwyn. “I’ll keep this for the rest of my life. It was fun up in Medicine Hat and I’ll never forget the experience. It was fantastic up there.”

»rmccarthy@brandonsun.com