Targeted on the subsequent lap: Ann Arbor swimmer headed for 2026 Special Olympics USA Games

ANN ARBOR, MI — The very first thing folks discover about Josh Bunsis within the pool is his even mood, his coach Tammy Zajac stated.

No matter the noise of the meet, the echoes of whistles or the sight of a swimmer gaining within the subsequent lane, he holds regular. His arms maintain in rhythm, his kick stays sharp and his face doesn’t change.

“He’s not flustered by much,” stated Zajac, a coach at Area 20 Special Olympics in Washtenaw County. “If something goes wrong in a race, he just resets. He’s focused on the next lap, not the last one.”

Next yr, Josh, 26, of Ann Arbor will convey that composure to the USA Games, the quadrennial Special Olympics nationwide championship. Josh, who has autism, will signify Team Michigan within the 100 freestyle, the 50 breaststroke and the 50 backstroke on the competitors from June 20 by way of June 26, 2026, in Blaine, Minnesota.

Josh reached the distinguished video games by profitable a race on the Special Olympics Michigan Summer Games in May. From there, gold medalists are entered right into a lottery system.

There had been 200 athletes throughout Michigan who competed in swimming. He was chosen from a pool of about 40 of these athletes.

Josh discovered he was headed to the video games when his swim workforce read cards aloud after apply at Milan High School.

Bunsis was the final to learn his card. For a second, he was surprised. Then got here the smile.

“He was just grinning from ear to ear,” Zajac stated.

“It was like a perma-grin — the most emotion I’ve ever seen from him,” stated Julie Harvey, one other one in every of Josh’s coaches.

The choice could have been luck, however the efficiency wasn’t, Howard stated.

“Swimming is not like baseball where a ball takes a weird hop,” he stated. “You either beat the other person or you don’t. And Josh has been beating people.”

Josh’s introduction to swimming had nothing to do with competitors. At age 6, he started one-on-one adaptive classes at High Point pool by way of Ann Arbor neighborhood training and recreation. As he progressed, he joined group classes, then the Veterans Park swim workforce. He ultimately joined the Special Olympics’ Area 20 workforce, which trains at Milan High School.

“Ann Arbor is a big swim town,” Barb Byers, Josh’s mom, stated. “Once Josh got started, it just stuck.”

Swimming grew to become a part of Josh’s packed rotation of sports activities that now contains basketball, softball, observe, flag soccer, golf, bowling, ice hockey, indoor hockey, rowing and even cross-country snowboarding. On Mondays, he swims. Thursdays are for golf. Saturdays usually imply softball tournaments, and Sundays convey pickleball meetups at Leslie Park.

“He’s doing something almost every day,” Howard, an accounting professor at Eastern Michigan University, stated.

But in swimming, Josh may see his enchancment most clearly. The stopwatch didn’t depart room for doubt.

“When he was younger, he got distracted very easily,” Byers stated. “He’s really matured and been able to focus a lot more.”

Physical exercise, she stated, has helped Josh handle nervousness and hyperactivity. Plus, it’s constructed a pleasant group of associates.

“It gives him a healthy outlet, and he’s learned to listen, to take coaching and to grow.”

Zajac stated when she makes a technical suggestion, Josh often adjusts instantly.

“I’ll tell him to change his breathing or his turn,” she stated. “The next lap, he’s trying it. That’s rare.”

Julie Harvey, one other of his Special Olympics coaches, put it merely: “Josh is the kind of athlete you wish you could clone. He listens, he tries, he comes back the next day ready to work.”

The distinction with Josh is his resilience, Harvey stated. Some swimmers get rattled after they fall behind. Josh retains going and doesn’t panic.

This summer season, in a softball sport, Josh drove within the profitable run within the backside of the final inning. Teammates mobbed him and celebrated like they’d gained the World Series, Howard stated. Josh merely jogged to first base.

“He wants to win,” Howard stated. “But he’s learned you got to know how to win, you got to know how to lose.”

Outside the pool, Josh has an affiliate diploma in panorama administration from Michigan State University and works full time in landscaping. Byers stated he leaves for work round 7:30 a.m., drives himself, and returns house drained and soiled, glad with the day’s labor.

At house, he handles the household pool chemical substances — a process Howard stated requires the identical consideration to element that makes him swimmer.

“We don’t have a pool guy,” Howard stated. “Josh does all the chemicals. It’s a complicated setup, but he tests it twice a week and keeps it balanced. I have no clue how he does it.”

When he’s not taking part in sports activities, Josh is often watching them. He and Howard are diehard New York Mets followers, they stated, usually tuning into a number of baseball video games directly on DirecTV’s split-screen. When chatting, Josh noticed a commerce alert on his watch and instantly turned to his dad. The two launched into debate in regards to the subsequent strikes the Mets ought to make.

“These guys are huge sports fans,” Byers stated with fun.

After the household went to Minnesota for a baseball sport — one of many many ballparks he’s visited — Josh will return subsequent summer season for the USA Games. This time, although, the journey carries extra emotional weight.

On February 4, 2024, Josh’s older brother, Sam, died in his sleep at age 27. Sam was additionally a Special Olympics athlete, and Josh’s largest fan.

Every time he swims, Josh thinks about Sam, he stated.

Josh has upped his coaching, swimming 1500 yards per week, in preparation for the USA Games.

But he is aware of what to do, Zajac stated. “He’s been preparing for this for years.”

Bunsis’ perspective is easy.

“I feel excited when I swim,” he stated.

To help Josh’s journey to Minnesota for the Team USA Games and Special Olympics Michigan, go to his fundraising page.

To become involved in Special Olympics in Washtenaw County e mail [email protected].