In 1979 Garth Bird
graduated from Gordon F. Kells
High in Carlyle and soon after
left the town where he was born
and raised. He describes his
departure as going to conquer
the world. After some years of
moving around the province
because of work and education,
he eventually got married. And
in 1993 Garth and Heidi Bird
brought Morgan Bird into the
world and eventually settled
in Calgary. She was born with
cerebral palsy which affects the
left side of her body but by the
age of 11 she began swimming
competitively. Those years of
swimming as a child led to
Morgan Bird, 20, representing
Canada and last year she
participated in the 2012 Para-
Olympic Games in London. Her
father said her journey has been
an arduous one as most of her
time consists of swimming and
school. But says she works very
hard and the family is proud of
her and recalls her time at the
Games in London.
"She wasn't expected to
medal, her goal was to make it
to one fi nal in the four events
she competed inshe made all
four," he said.
"She got fourth in the 400
freestyle, she was neck and neck
the whole way, she's having
really good success and we're
really proud of her."
In addition to her experience
in London, Morgan has
participated in the IPC World
Championships in Montreal
this past August, competing in
fi ve events. She won two silver
medals, one in the 50m freestyle
and the other in the relays and
also made the fi nals in her other
three events.
"I plan on doing everything
I can on making it to Rio 2016,
that's the big goal at the end of
the tunnel here and I really hope
to make the podium too. Going to
the Paralympics has been a dream
of mine since I started swimming
but making the podium would
just be amazing," she said.
Bird who is working
towards a Bachelor of Applied
Child Studies at the Mount
Royal University in Calgary
says she now has to really
focus, as every year a swimmer
is required to step it up a notch.
"Especially the year leading
into Paralympics, being an
elite athlete traveling as part
of that team, you really have to
set your sights on your goals
and swimming has to be my
main priority and everything
else comes second," she said.
Her mother Heidi Bird
said her daughter works hard,
going to university full-time and
incorporating that aspect of her
life with swimming is something
she said her daughter does well.
"Sometimes it's tough
because she travels a lot, she goes
to camp, she missed three weeks
of university while she had to go
to a camp in Arizona," she said.
"It got a little stressful,
she was taking full-time loads,
she's going to drop a class next
semester, but we're just very proud
of all of her accomplishments
and how hard she works."
Garth Bird says the family
supports her by getting her
to where she needs to be.
"She's always in water,
so it's getting her to the pool,
so you're up at 5 a.m. to get
her on deck by 5:45 a.m. in the
morning," he said.
In the coming years there
are a few competitions that
Morgan Bird is hoping to be a
part of. In 2014 there will be the
Common Wealth Games that will
be held in Glasgow as well as
the Pan Pacifi c Championships
in Australia. However in 2015
the Para Pan Am Games will
be hosted by Canada and
Bird says she is excited for
this particular competition.
"That's on home soil which
is huge for Canada because we
don't usually get to compete on
home soil that often so that's why
it's such a big deal for us because
being able to compete on home
soil is huge advantage," Bird said.
"The fan base will be huge
like it was in London, it was
insane. That would be nice, to be
able to compete in Canada."
Garth Bird says he travels
to Carlyle once every year and
this year the Bird family will be
in town to celebrate the holidays
