The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors honored a local resident last Tuesday (July 14) for her 35 years of service to the Spring Hill Rec Center’s adapted aquatics program.
Bryna Helfer helped found the program in 1991, and continues to serve as an instructor and booster.
“You literally started a movement,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said during a ceremony held at the start of the Board meeting.
Helfer and others who support programming for individuals with disabilities are “building a community that empowers people to feel free, to feel included,” Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman said at the proclamation ceremony.
The result has been “a lasting legacy of inclusion and dignity,” Bierman said.
Adapted aquatics is offered Sundays at the Spring Hill Rec Center in McLean, as well as Wednesdays at the Franconia Rec Center and Fridays at the Audrey Moore Rec Center. It is part of a large array of adapted athletics programming offered by the Fairfax County Park Authority, including:
- Gymnastics
- Kayaking
- Yoga
- Fitness training
- Ice skating
- Tae kwon do
- Fishing
- Pilates
In remarks, Helfer, who moved to Northern Virginia in 1989, said she had gained as much from her involvement in the adapted swimming program as she had given.
“I’ve done a lot of things in my life. This one is the most fun,” she said, punctuating it with her trademark slogan, “Alrighta!”
Helfer said the swimmers participating in the program “are an inspiration.”
“The water’s magical,” she said. “It’s freeing, equalizing.”
Helfer also saluted the parents, families and caregivers of participants, and noted that “we can’t run this program without volunteers.”
McKay said Helfer’s enthusiasm is infectious.
“She is literally everywhere serving our community and promoting the rights of people who have disabilities,” the board chair said.
His colleague, Braddock District Supervisor Rachna Sizemore Heizer, relayed the story of her son’s involvement in adapted sports programming, praising the freedom he found and friendships he made.
“People like you literally made my son’s life better,” she said.
McKay said community support for the programming allows for its growth.
“We’re going to make sure we build inclusive environments all across the county,” he said.
