Ladies and Gentlemen? Take Your Mark? Go!
I would so totally do this if it weren’t for the buckets of water that flood my nose every time I swim, or my hate-relationship with swimsuits, or the fact that sucking air at the end of each lap makes me kind of cranky. Swimming is just not my thing. Running, yes. Biking, sure. Just not swimming. It’s the one thing that will forever keep me from competing in triathlons. Wait, that’s a lie. I just don’t want to compete in triathlons. The swimming thing is just a convenient excuse.
You, on the other hand, might love swimming. Or maybe you don’t, but you’re willing to take a stab at a great challenge. If that sounds like you, then I want you to try this out, and let me know how it goes. Why? Because it helps us cancer girls and guys, and because if you do it, then I won’t feel so guilty for not taking the plunge myself.
Here’s the deal, all wrapped up in a pretty press release:
swimchallenge.org
IN THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES – WHO WILL GO THE LONGEST?
Aqua Sphere Challenges Men and Women to Swim for a Cause
VISTA, Calif. – March, 2010 – Aqua Sphere, the leader in high-end, innovative swim products, dares to see who will go the distance—men or women?
As the sponsors of the Swim Challenge, Aqua Sphere, the company that promotes comfort and long-lasting performance in the water has thrown down the gauntlet in an effort to raise funds and awareness for breast and prostate cancer and in the process, determine who rules th e pool.
Beginning April 1 through November 30, swimmers of all abilities can sign-up and sign on to www.swimchallenge.org each day to log their hours (not their laps) in the water. Whether they like it smooth or rough, on their backs or their stomachs – it’s not the stroke that matters but who will outlast their competition.
The Swim Challenge website will track the total time, men vs. women, via a “leader meter” posted on the website and created as a widget so that competitors can keep tabs on their counterparts. The site will also allow swimmers to individually track their personal progress in the pool, encouraging them to swim longer each day.
A $35,000 donation will be split between the Prostate Cancer Foundation (men) and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (women); allocations will be determined by the cumulative hours swum by each gender.
“Regardless who wins, they both win,” says Olivier Laguette, Director of Marketing for Aqua Sphere. “We’ve all been personally affected by cancer in some way or another but instead of simply writing a check, we wanted to do something fun that would promote a healthy lifestyle as well as some healthy competition – and a little bit of gender wars seemed appropriate.”
Aqua Sphere, the originator of the “swim mask,” is widely known for their line of comfortable aquatic eyewear includin g the popular Seal and Vista masks and the Kaiman and Kayenne goggles. Designed for form and function, swimmers can simply fit the frames to their face and forget about them while they enjoy swimming for time, distance, exercise or just fun.
For more information on the Swim Challenge, visit us on the web at www.swimchallenge.org or join the Swim Challenge Facebook fan site. Twitter users can also follow swim_challenge for the latest updates.
About Aqua Sphere
Aqua Sph ere is the worldwide brand of choice for swimming gear, based on the highest industry standards of design and innovation. Launched in the mid-90s as a division of the diving industry leader Aqua Lung, Aqua Sphere is committed to supplying eye protection for dedicated or casual swimmers, enabling them to feel safe, comfortable and at home in the water. The company’s numerous innovations include the Seal, the first swim mask featuring 180° vision and Kaiman, the first panoramic goggle. For more information, call (800) 775-3483, or log on to www.aquasphereswim.com.
Aqua Sph ere is the worldwide brand of choice for swimming gear, based on the highest industry standards of design and innovation. Launched in the mid-90s as a division of the diving industry leader Aqua Lung, Aqua Sphere is committed to supplying eye protection for dedicated or casual swimmers, enabling them to feel safe, comfortable and at home in the water. The company’s numerous innovations include the Seal, the first swim mask featuring 180° vision and Kaiman, the first panoramic goggle. For more information, call (800) 775-3483, or log on to www.aquasphereswim.com.
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF) was founded in 1993 by Evelyn H. Lauder as an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to funding innovative clinical and translational research. In October 2009, BCRF awarded nearly $28.5 million to 173 scientists across the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. BCRF perseveres in directing at least 85 cents of every dollar raised directly to research. And for the eighth consecutive year, BCRF received Charity Navigator’s highest rating, four stars, thus outperforming over 99.8% of the 5,400 evaluated charities, while the American Institute of Philanthropy has awarded BCRF its highest possible rating of A+. BCRF is the only breast cancer organization in the U.S. to receive these accolades. For more information about BCRF, visit www.bcrfcure.org.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) was founded in 1993 to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer. Through its unique model for soliciting and selecting promising research programs and rapid deployment of resources, the PCF has funded more than 1,500 programs at nearly 200 research centers in 20 countries around the world. The PCF is a force of HOPE for more than 16 million men and their families around the world who are currently facing the disease. For more information, visit www.prostatecancerfoundation.org
