POULSBO — At the conclusion of the Special Olympic state Summer Games June 2-4 in Tacoma, all of North Kitsap’s contestants left the King County Aquatic Center with medals swinging and clinking from their necks.

And two of the nine contestants from the NK Special Olympics swimming club — Katie Burton and Chad Steyer-Morgan — are waiting to hear if they will be selected to compete in World Games, which will be held in Shanghai in the People’s Republic of China in October.

“The chances are pretty slim, but they actually qualified for World, which is amazing,” said NK coach Darla Smith, adding that the Special Olympics World Games are held every four years like the Olympics. “So it’s a real honor to even be mentioned.”

At the Washington State games earlier this month, Steyer-Morgan and Burton weren’t the only Vikings being honored. The nine-member NK team collected a total 16 medals with seven gold, while enjoying the company and competition of more than 2,000 Special Olympics contestants.

Each of NK’s swimmers earned either a silver, bronze or gold medal over the course of the weekend, but that was simply the benefit of the true Special Olympics focus.

“What we strive to teach them is it’s not so much the win, it’s that they are attempting to do something that pushes themselves beyond the envelope that they are used to pushing themselves in,” Smith said. “If we cannot win let us be brave in the attempt.”

Burton is a prime example of that bravery and pride as she has been striving for success in the Special Olympics program for nearly 10 years. The 2006 State Games were the first time that Burton garnered a gold medal on the state stage. She swam a 2:45.84 100M breaststroke for the honor which signified not only first place in the event, but also the myriad of hard work that has gone into the pool prior to competition.

“She practices like none other, she’s excited to be there and she wants to know how she can get better,” Smith said. “She’s just got that spunk and personality that is just amazing.”

In a team sport, high spirits from one team member tends to rub off on teammates and at the State Games, Richard Heckly, Robert Kondracki and James Shaffer utilized their mettle to claim gold medals in short distance events.

Heckly swam to first in the 50M freestyle in 42.52 seconds while also picking up bronze in the 25M backstroke and silver in the 50M backstroke. Kondracki swam to a gold time in the 25M backstroke in 38.73 seconds and Schaffer swam to gold in his division of the 50M freestyle in 47.04 seconds.

Steyer-Morgan landed two gold medals on the weekend with a 21.93-second performance in the 25M butterfly and a 1:27.55 time in the 100M freestyle.

“It’s not a medal, it’s not an honor, it’s a goal that we have every day,” Smith said of what drives Special Olympics. “I have the challenge of making them be the best that they can be in their own realm of possibility.”