Swim Across the Hudson River NY

I want to add that it was a touching moment when I collected a bandana and had a nice lady, Arlene, sign it for me. Arlene is dealing with MS and the bandana symbolises being a "Champion for MS," I felt very choked when she signed it and thanked me as we shared a hug. It made the whole event a much deeper and significant thing to be doing--besides the fun and challenge meeting aspect. There were even a couple of swimmers who had MS that took part; a double :woot: to them. During the swim, I reached back to my hip to check the bandana was still there; it was, a reef knot took care of that (thank you Baden Powell!). It gave me heart and it was also good to keep my mind on the bigger picture. A crowd stood waiting on the beach cheering everyone in, which was nice, and afterwards folks with MS were thanking me for doing it, and it was very humbling. It was all I could do to just thank them in return for being an inspiration to do the swim. I highly reccomend this event to anyone with the drive and willingness to raise a few bucks for a worthy cause! Rich Thanks for this report, Rich! Very heart warming! You might also like the Plunge for Patients which helps to raise funds for cancer patients at Johns Hopkins. Each swimmer is given the name and bio of the patient for whom s/he is swimming, and then possibly will meet the person afterward or the family if the person has passed away. I met the family of the man I was swimming for, and I really was very moved and later exchanged e-mail with his wife in the process of writing an article about the swim. She talked about how her husband would go to swim planning meetings wheeling the IV apparatus, because he was so dedicated to making it a success. When I first faced the breakers I wanted to turn back b/c I was so frightened, but for him and his family, I'm glad I managed to hang in. Swims like this one and the Hudson River swim are great opportunities to give back and stretch one's own limits for people already stretched to theirs.

I want to add that it was a touching moment when I collected a bandana and had a nice lady, Arlene, sign it for me. Arlene is dealing with MS and the bandana symbolises being a "Champion for MS," I felt very choked when she signed it and thanked me as we shared a hug. It made the whole event a much deeper and significant thing to be doing--besides the fun and challenge meeting aspect. There were even a couple of swimmers who had MS that took part; a double :woot: to them. During the swim, I reached back to my hip to check the bandana was still there; it was, a reef knot took care of that (thank you Baden Powell!). It gave me heart and it was also good to keep my mind on the bigger picture. A crowd stood waiting on the beach cheering everyone in, which was nice, and afterwards folks with MS were thanking me for doing it, and it was very humbling. It was all I could do to just thank them in return for being an inspiration to do the swim. I highly reccomend this event to anyone with the drive and willingness to raise a few bucks for a worthy cause! Rich Thanks for this report, Rich! Very heart warming! You might also like the Plunge for Patients which helps to raise funds for cancer patients at Johns Hopkins. Each swimmer is given the name and bio of the patient for whom s/he is swimming, and then possibly will meet the person afterward or the family if the person has passed away. I met the family of the man I was swimming for, and I really was very moved and later exchanged e-mail with his wife in the process of writing an article about the swim. She talked about how her husband would go to swim planning meetings wheeling the IV apparatus, because he was so dedicated to making it a success. When I first faced the breakers I wanted to turn back b/c I was so frightened, but for him and his family, I'm glad I managed to hang in. Swims like this one and the Hudson River swim are great opportunities to give back and stretch one's own limits for people already stretched to theirs.