Waseda Athlete Program’s 7th Alumni Athlete Seminar Presentation entitled “The time is now to reach your goals” took place on June 20 at Okuma Auditorium. Junichi Kawai (the swimming club alumnae and Chairperson of Paralympians Association of Japan) was invited to speak in front of approximately 1200 participants belonging to athletic clubs on campus. Kawai competed in 6 Paralympic Games in a row, from the Barcelona Paralympics in 1992 to the London Paralympics in 2012. He won a total of 21 medals, five of them being gold medals. At the seminar presentation, he shared his life’s story.
Kawai’s dream was to 1) become a teacher and 2) become a world-class champion swimmer. When he won a silver medal in the Barcelona Paralympics as a high school student, he was impressed and shocked by how much the Paralympic Games received media attention overseas. He remembers thinking, “I wish Japanese society would also support athletes with physical disabilities like this someday.” Kawai entered the School of Education and continued training on his own. A year later, he joined the swimming club and met alumni and club members who became good comrades. Kawai then won a gold medal in the Atlanta Paralympics and realized there were so many people who he can share his joy with. He was surprised to discover his great sense of appreciation for those who have supported him along the way. After university, he became the first legally blind teacher in Japan and became employed at his graduating junior high school, being able to accomplish both goals.
After sharing his life’s story, Kawai spoke about his background, he also mentioned about the realities of the Paralympic Games and athletes’ lifestyle, issues regarding athletes with disabilities, and the Tokyo Olympic/Paralympic Games emblem. At the end of his presentation, he left the audience with an encouraging message, “Do not cling onto the University’s name value. Everyone here must work diligently in society and establish good relationships with people by exercising leadership in different situations. This way, when people see you working hard, they will say “Waseda University graduates are special.” Your efforts will make contributions to the University. I stand here today because of what I learned at Waseda. I hope that in the future, you will all consider how you can give back to your alma mater.” The participants carefully listened to Kawai’s words and enthusiastically asked questions during the Q&A session.
After the seminar presentation, President Kamata asked swimming club members Masato Sakai (School of Sport Sciences, 3rd year) and Ippei Watanabe (School of Sport Sciences, 2nd year) to come to the stage. President Kamata and fellow sport club members sent Sakai and Watanabe off with anticipation for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games as these students will compete in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke races, respectively.
