It was a dark, moonless night when the first “runner boats” (Don Popplow and Steve Bang) braved the eerie silence at 2:30 a.m. to head to Severn Falls and pick up three of the 25.6 km swimmers and their crew. . . This was a special year, the 10th Anniversary swim! As a result there […]
The summer leading up to the Swim for the Cure 2009 was notably cold and rainy, playing havoc with the Severn River water temperature. This year 27 swimmers participated, the most swimmers to date – and we also experienced the coldest water temperature to date! There were a few warmer patches along the route, probably […]
Storm passes (Jema relaxes) The day began at 4:15 a.m. as Jema (our Cattle Dog) sensed the impending storm. She doesn’t like this kind of weather and started pawing at the bed trying to get some comfort. Thunder and lightning began shortly after with winds and strong rain. Thank goodness for Jim Shaw and Don […]
The sun was not yet up when the first swimmers and crew were arriving at the starting point at Swift Rapids. This year we left from the concrete wall on the north side instead of the narrow pillar. The majority of swimmers were in the water before 7:30 a.m. hoping to avoid the wind and […]
Day of challenge The weather forecasters had predicted a sunny day with temperatures of 27 Celsius for the swim. Goodness, were they wrong! Rain started about 6:15 a.m. with two swimmers in the water and almost everyone else still heading to the Swift Rapids starting point.Despite frequent heavy rain, distant but approaching thunder and lightning, […]
Camp commitment Dawn came early for the Hamilton group of swimmers and crew traveling with Michael Hall. . . in fact it was still night! Michael had told one of the participants at the McMaster University Sports Camp last year that he would try to swim in the 4th Annual Swim for the Cure with that […]
Champions It was such an amazing weekend. The weather was awful; overcast and raining and the water was really cold! Our crew were sopping wet and the swimmers were exhausted… but all were jubilant.Our day started at 4:30 a.m. as we were determined to get the first swimmers in the water by 0600 hours. As […]
Smiling, shivering The skies opened up in a downpour just as we were about to head up to Swift Rapids Lock to begin the Second Annual Children’s Swim for the Cure.It had been drizzling off and on since 6 a.m., but the children were still keen and one of them,Kelly Leonard, had already headed up […]
Up with the dawn The journey to raising $10,000 for breast cancer research began early on the morning of August 3: the first alarm clocks went off at 4:45 am; but many of us were already awake, thinking about our big swims and the goals that we had set for ourselves. Our nervous bellies didn’t […]
Bright caps, shining smiles A noisy and nervous group of kids began to assemble at the cottage of Steve and Debbie Bang on the Severn River at 7:00 am. on Sunday, August 4. They were set to swim from Swift Rapids to the Bangs’ cottage dock, a distance of just over one mile (1.6 km). […]