by Samantha Murdoch
The third annual Chasing For A Cure 12-hour relay swimming marathon included 61 participants, with some as young as three years of age, on Mar. 23.
We had participants from Calgary to the Edmonton areas as well as a participant swimming in B.C. helping raise money for CFAC. Some of the participants were cancer survivors while others were swimming in memory/honour for someone.
All swimmers present at 6:30 a.m. entered the pool in groups of six until everyone was in.
Participants ranged from those with little swim experience to competitive and triathlete swimmers. Even though freestyle was the choice of most, there were also butterfly, back stroke and breast stroke in the pool.
The last five minutes saw everyone enter the pool one last time to finish off the day with a loud cheer echoing across the pool when the clock showed 6:30 p.m.
Once again money had been raised for Canadian Cancer Society. Close to $8,000 has been raised with more donations coming in. Donations may be made until the end of April, which is Cancer Month. We’re still hoping to reach that $10,000 mark.
A link to where online donations may be made, may be found at http://chasingforacure.yolasite.com/
Donations are also being accepted at The Paint Stop in Sylvan Lake, Sylvan Lake Aquatic Centre, and Spruce View School.
A huge thank you to Tim Hortons for donating breakfast and lunch to the participants as well as local businesses that helped out. We’d also like to thank sponsors who paid for the pool and party room rentals — your generosity is greatly appreciated!