CENTER GROVE, Ind. — Swimming has changed the life of a Johnson County man who is making a splash on the world stage.
Liam Price now hits the pool five days a week to train for the Special Olympics.
"I was dealing with health conditions when I was younger. I felt like I was going to keep going downhill. But all of a sudden, I'm like, 'I want to change that,'" Price said.
Several years ago, Price happened to meet Johnson County Special Olympics coach Jason Hite, who encouraged Price to try swimming.
Price, 21, has autism, but the pool became the great equalizer.
"Nobody can really see that in me. They see me as, you know, a typical person who can go out and actually act like a typical person because they see how fast I am in the pool," Price said. "They're like, 'Wow, this guy can swim like a typical!'"
There is nothing typical about Price. He's an overachiever. He won a silver medal at the World Games in Germany.
"Me, as a Special Olympics athlete, would have never thought that we'd be coming home with this medal and this hardware," Price said. "Therefore, you know, it represents the state. And it really should represent the state office. Not my household and not myself because the state earned that."
The Center Grove graduate now has his name on the big screen. He's a big deal on the south side, like his high school buddy, basketball star Trayce Jackson-Davis.
"He had some big accomplishments, but this is, in my opinion, a bigger accomplishment, because it's a world medal. 'Trayce, you were good, but this right here is a bigger deal," Price said, holding up his silver medal.
Price said he missed eating donuts during his training for the World Games, but Monday, he was time to celebrate a bit with some calories.
"That is the sweet taste of victory right there," Price said.