Jesse Canney Jesse Canney

In 2019, Jesse Canney was named Sport New Brunswick’s male athlete of the year. He was the first Special Olympian to win the award in the province. In 2018, he also won Male Athlete of the Year for Special Olympics Canada and in New Brunswick.

At the 2023 World Games for Special Olympians, Canney collected three gold medals.
In 2022, Canney became Team New Brunswick’s most decorated Canada Games athlete with four medals that year in addition to his three in 2017.

Canney, who lives with autism, started taking private swimming lessons at age six, joined Special Olympics when he was 11 and at age 15 enrolled with the Fredericton Aquanauts Swim Team (FAST), and increased his training to seven times a week.