Cape Cod’s own Paralympic curler, Sean O’Neill, has two games left to play before the semifinals on Friday. The final four have yet to be named. In the meantime, he’s enjoying everything the Paralympic experience in Italy has to offer. O’Neill talked with CAI’s Jennette Barnes.
Jennette Barnes: Tell me about some of what you do to prepare for a match.
Sean O’Neill: We like to get to the arena about an hour-and-a half-early, sort of get into the zone personally. Then we come together with our coach, Clare Moores, who goes over our goals for the game, gets feedback from us on what our individual and team goals are for the game, and really what we're committing ourselves to do in the game, what our focuses are. Then we have sort of team time, the five of us, where we play a little volleyball with the beach ball. Then we do some stretching. Then we do some cardio. Sometimes we do a meditation together, and then we get ready to go on the ice.
Barnes: And how's life outside of game prep? Are you eating good Italian food and stuff like that?
O’Neill: Today I had my first, sort of, real Italian meal, with no offense meant to the village cafeteria. But no, I've got to explore around Cortina, where the curling stadium is, a bit, with family and friends and went to an amazing Italian restaurant for some pasta. I had a lovely Amatriciana today. It was — it was delicious. It was everything I've been hoping for in an Italian lunch. So the food, the gelato, all of it is excellent. It's incredible being here among the mountains in Italy. It's really been incredible.
Barnes: What about meeting athletes from other countries? That's something that they always talk about with the Olympics, you know, that experience of doing that.
O’Neill: Yeah, it's, I think, one of, if not the, best parts of this and of being in the village, is being in a space with not only the other team USA athletes but, again, all the athletes from other countries. And I think with the Paralympics, when you add in, you know, that we're all disabled athletes of one form or another, in some ways to me it makes it, you know, even — even more special that we're coming together, all as elite disabled athletes from all these countries. I've particularly enjoyed sort of checking out and admiring the various uniforms and kits and sweatsuits that other countries have. They're pretty remarkable. And things like meeting Haiti's first winter Paralympian. I mean, that's an incredible experience. And it's — nowhere I'm doing that other than in the Paralympic village. So it's — it's an incredible opportunity, something I feel very lucky to experience.
Barnes: How do you feel about this whole thing, just kind of as an experience?
O’Neill: It's mind-blowing. It has been mind-blowing since I knew it was coming, and then the actual lived experience of it has been somehow even more so. It's so far beyond what I ever thought my life could include in all these great ways. I mean, today I was rolling down the streets of Cortina and someone driving by pulled over and said, “I saw you play this morning. You played incredible. I love watching you. Good luck.” I mean that's ridiculous. I just have to shake my head at that. That's so far out of what I thought I would ever experience. I'm just so lucky and so blessed for all the support and, you know, family, friends, my club, just everything in my life, my law firm, that has let me get to this point. It makes me very emotional. It's beyond incredible.
Transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
