POV

I'm not like other teenagers. I'm autistic. When I'm swimming, I feel normal. It feels amazing from when I swim. If you want gold medals, you have to work hard and train hard. Well, that's my dream. So I want to become faster than Michael Phelps, and I want to be the second one that people will crowd and want to cheer me. It made me feel tough to do that freestyle breaststroke. The correct way is, like, 100 percent. The front stroke may be a little bit tough, but the breaststroke maybe really hard. That's going to make me feel tired if I do any competing, what makes me tired when I'm doing competing at the swim meet. All right, boys. Listen up. We want to make Mike -- We want him proud. So, you have to give -- Do it fast as you can. Mike, he's doing back, and him doing a breast. For me, I'll do fly, and the last is freestyle. So, guys, give it the best as you got. Okay. - All right. Who's with me? - All right. Hammerheads! - Hammerheads! Whoo! Inside a bomb is a type of -- It has diamonds. I should not say that in public. Right? We're going to swim until we win. Right? Yup. - You know it. Yup. - Right? We're going for gold? Check it out, Robert. They're amateur. - We are what? What are we called? The Jersey Hammer shark heads. - The Hammerheads. Hammerheads is a word -- - Hammershead. Hammerhead. - It's a shark. We are the sharks. You know it. Also, here comes the jersey. And I love your leather jacket. You earned it. Right, buddy? A hundred dollars. But I'm saying you earned your jacket. Look at that. That is awesome, Robert. It's beautiful. - Isn't that beautiful? Yes. - That is awesome. Our team, they're all autistic. They all have some type of autism spectrum disorder, which is not very common for a swim team. I'm going to introduce you to my husband, who's the head coach. Okay. - Okay? Mike, this is Marisol. - Hi. Hey. How are you doing, Marisol? Mike, this is Jay. - Jay, how are you? You going to swim with us this year? Yes. - Yes? One time or other, all of our kids have been ostracized, and for them to be a part of the team is unbelievable. Let's spread out just a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit, little bit. Everybody, touch the sky. Touch the sky, high as you can go. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. Hold it! - Ugh! Okay. Good guys. Welcome. Thank you guys for coming today. So we are now called the Jersey Hammerheads. Whoo! - Whoo-hoo! Right? So we're sharks now. It's easy. - Yeah, son. And there's a float. And there's a float. You're going to swim if it kills me. Yeah. Don't you worry. - Listen to me. Listen to me. Our kids, they love the water. God forbid they happen to go to the water, and they jump in the pool if they didn't know how to swim. They couldn't help themselves. They'd drown. Give me your hand. Do not touch those ropes. Are you ready? I'm going to give you a push. Ready? One, two, three. Push. - Go. You better swim. Ah! - You better swim! I can't save you! You better swim! Arms over the top, over the top! What are you saying? As a mom with an autistic child, we always knew, because we had a pool, that Michael had to learn to swim, had to. Mikey, now good kick. You got to kick hard off the wall. Ready? Swimmers on your mark. Go! The doctors told us that Michael would never talk. He would never be able to change his own pants, that he would never be self-sufficient, and I think it just took trail and error for me and my wife not giving up so that he would do more. We said, "We're not going to give up on him. He can do something. We just have to spend time with him." Look at me. Do the backstroke going down at one arm. One-arm catch-up, one-arm catch-up. Swimmers on your mark. Go! His swimming has improved tremendously. He loves it, and we wanted the opportunity for him to continue swimming. This hand comes across and over top, okay? Go. Push off the wall. Push! So my husband and I got our own Special Olympics swim team. No slap, no slap, push. Over the top, face in the water! Breathe! Breathe! There you go! Swim! Coaching a special-needs team versus a regular swim team, it's night and day. Ah! Every kid in the pool is different. Getting with kids that have never swam or are afraid of the water, they have sensory issues as far as touch, sound. You have to have patience. Four-laps freestyle.