To say that Drew Hennen excels at sports would be an understatement. He is, in fact, a Special Olympic competitor and silver medalist.

Hennen competed in the Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Turin, Italy in March. The 20-year-old local resident placed second in the 200-meter snowshoeing competition, and also competed in that sport in the 400-meter relay and 400-meter event.

Talking about his experience comes with a big smile and exuberance for that sport and others. He water skis in the summer months with Shockwaves, the Shakopee-Prior Lake Waterski Club, and has tried his hand at nearly every other sport, including bowling, soccer, basketball, track and golf.

Drew traveled with Special Olympics team members, flying from Minneapolis to New York, and then on to Turin where he stayed with other athletes in the Olympic Village from March 5-17. His mother, Denise, her daughter and a family friend flew in separately and due to travel delays, barely made it in time to watch Drew’s first race. They all cheered loudly when he placed second in the final snowshoe race, noting he also did well in the other two races in which he competed.

“Drew went up to every kid at the end of each race and hugged them or shook their hand,” Denise said. “I cried when I saw him doing that. He’s such a caring person and wanted to make certain everyone felt good about their accomplishments.”

While the young athlete was pleased with his times and outcome, he said he enjoyed sampling lots of Italian pasta dishes, and most of all, meeting other athletes from throughout the world.

For the Hennen family, supporting Special Olympics is truly a family affair, according to Denise. Drew’s dad, Dan, and his sisters have enjoyed coaching with the local Special Olympics program, which follows the tenets set by the world organization to create inclusion and acceptance of people with disabilities of any age, and encourages participation in sports to improve self-esteem, social skills, physical fitness and leadership abilities.

“He’s always been athletic,” says Denise, who is one of the leaders of Savage-Prior Lake Lakers Special Olympics. She adds the opportunities to compete in high school sports through the Minnesota State High School League’s Adaptive Athletics has allowed her son to meet and compete through “Southern Stars” with teammates from Prior Lake, Shakopee, Chaska and Chanhassen. The program enables athletes to letter in a high school sport, as well as compete in state tournaments with the same medals, trophies and “all-tournament” team honors.

Drew currently attends Southwest Metro Transition School in Shakopee. He holds down two part-time jobs — as a pool attendant at Lifetime Fitness in Savage, and also assists customers when working at Marcus Theater in Shakopee, where he has made many friends. Coworkers at the theater formed “The Drew Crew” and celebrated his accomplishments by creating T-shirts with his image to wear while he was competing in Turin.

The Hennens will find out in May whether Drew will be competing in the Special Olympics USA Games being held in Minnesota in June 2026, when an estimated 4,000 athletes will participate in 19 different sports.

“I think we’ve prepared him well and set him up right for the future,” Denise said. “Special Olympics is such a great program. For a kid that loves sports, we couldn’t have stumbled on anything better.”