stories

Swim Story 2018

A remarkable swim with less than ideal conditions! It was a lovely sunrise with a forecast of possible rain beginning at 0800 hours and finishing by 1100 hours.  Twenty-one-ish degrees Celsius with 27.5C/80F water.  Warm for a long swim – the overcast and cooler temperature great for our paddlers.  That’s not exactly how it went though! Once the rain started it was a deluge and continued on and off until all the swimmers were out of the water and we were back at the cottage.  We had a strong head wind beginning around the 8 km point and though there were many very considerate boaters – the inconsiderate boaters who throw a huge wake are the ones that each of us remembers.  Not only were our paddlers and the runner boat team soaked from the on and off rain, they were also cold!  What an amazing group of people we had assisting us today – Kay Soares in her pontoon boat, delivering swimmers to start at Swift Rapids and running between the swimmers to “check in”, provide directions and information about the distance to the end. Cathy Myles greeted the swimmer and got their start and finish times, gathering any donations and directing our new swimmers on their way. Don Popplow assisted with delivering a swimmer, crew and kayak to the start and Karen from the Cancer Society welcome each of the swimmers as we arrived at the end.  As with other years, the success of the swim would not be possible without Steve Bang.  He coordinates all the little details including getting the “tent” up so we had some shelter from the rain.

This year I had help from Ben, Avery and Steve with making the wraps and Ben and Avery were a great help cheering the swimmers in and taking down the tent and loading up the boat to head back to the cottage.  Thank you to Ben and Avery – it was such a fun day on Friday making wraps and then playing in the water as a reward for a job well done!

As with other swims, there were a variety of approaches to the swim.  Six people completed the 12.8 km swim; 1 completed 7.8 kms, and two young women swam with Debbie Bang, one completing 7.0 kms and the other completing 5.0 kms.  We had three new swimmers and 6 return swimmers.

We have raised $6,000 this year bringing our total to $251,000; just over a cool quarter million dollars donated to support women, men and children affected by breast cancer and 148 people have helped raise awareness about breast cancer across Ontario.

We would happily have done without the rain, otherwise we all had a story to tell at the end about our accomplishments.  This is one of my favourite parts – the comparing of swim stories.  Until next year – which will be August 10, 2019 – I would invite you to consider whether you would like to swim, either as a solo swimmer for 12.8 or 7.8 kms or as part of a relay team.  

It is my intention to organize and swim in the Swim for the Cure for two more years; completing 20 years as the organizer and a swimmer in this event, in the summer of 2020.  I have had the distinct pleasure of swimming with many people through the years and have loved each of the swims – especially after I was finished!  It is time to turn the reigns over to someone else and/or for the event to be finished.  If you would like to learn the “swim ropes” over the next two years – happy to share my experiences and files ~~ Deb ~~

If you are interested in assisting with the swim next year, please get in touch with me.

Swim jobs August 10, 2019:

1. Picking swimmers and kayaks/canoes up a Severn Falls in the morning (0630-0800 job).
2. Driving (either car or boat), drivers back to the municipal lot to get their cars 1300-1500 job).
3. Paddling with a swimmer (we often have swimmers who either don’t have a paddler or a canoe/kayak (duration of the swimmers swim).

Would love to have you involved.

Contact me ~ dbanga231980@gmail.com; debbie.bang@amho.ca or http://swimforthecure.ca

Debbie Bang