A Soldotna swimmer brought home silver after landing a 35-second finish in the 50-yard freestyle at the Special Olympics USA Games last month in Minnesota. Thirty-seven-year-old Jason Criss showed off his medal during Kenai’s Fourth of July parade last weekend.
Criss swam three events at the games. During his silver-winning 50-yard freestyle swim, he finished roughly one second behind the first-place finisher from Michigan and a fraction of a second ahead of the third-place finisher from Maryland. Criss finished fourth in the 25-yard freestyle and seventh in the 100-yard freestyle.
Criss said last week he didn’t realize he’d earned his medal at first, he’d been focusing on his own race and didn’t know where the other swimmers were.
“I did not know where I was,” he said. “I thought I was a little farther back, but once I touched the wall and looked at the scoreboard saying I got second, I was excited.”
Criss qualified for the national competition based on his performance at the 2025 Special Olympics Alaska Summer Games. After earning a qualifying place in the games, Criss said he spent the last year training. He went to the Nikiski and Skyview pools multiple times each week to swim laps and work on technique. But he said the pool in Minnesota still brought surprises.
“It was a lot deeper than what we’re used to here in Soldotna, and the pools were a lot colder,” he said.
Criss said he met athletes and coaches from across the country who all supported one another at the competition. He particularly connected with athletes from Minnesota.
“They were awesome, they were friendly, they were cheering us on, we were cheering them on,” he said. “Because we were small, they wanted somebody to cheer us on too.”
Criss already has his eyes set on the 2027 Special Olympics World Games in Santiago, Chile. He has to qualify based on his performance at the 2026 Alaska Summer Games, which he competed in a week before leaving for Minnesota last month. He’s in the running for both the 50- and the 100-yard freestyle.
Criss made sure to enjoy time outside of the pool while in Minnesota. He says he especially enjoyed seeing Demi Lovato perform at the Games’ opening ceremonies.
Criss was among more than two dozen Alaska athletes who competed in the USA Games last month across eight sports. Together, they brought home 19 medals.
