Swimmers in Edmonton are taking the plunge to expand the sport. Nearly 50 athletes spent Saturday morning in the water at the University of Alberta to raise money for athletes with disabilities.
The Steadward Bears Para swimming team hopes to make waves with its ‘Going the Distance’ fundraiser.
Participants sign up to swim laps for an hour with the goal of raising $10,000 for the program.
“Our group is all swimmers with disabilities. It’s like any other swim team — we compete and help them train and hopefully, one day we help them swim to the best of their abilities,” said assistant coach Alexander Sharpe.
“I think there’s barriers for peoples with disabilities to access sport and we provide a service that everyone feels included and we’re able to facilitate these programs.”
Saturday’s fundraiser was open to both team members and the public. Twelve athletes swim competitively on the team and others are learning the sport with volunteers.
That includes swimmers like Caleb Moore, who has been a Steadward Bear for 10 years. He was able to train while supporting the fundraiser.
“I like it because it helps me achieve what kind of goals I want to achieve like going to swim meets and competitions. It’s good to have fun and have all my teammates here so I can push them hard in what kind of goals they want to achieve,” Moore said.
Morgan Cathcart has been with the team for more than a decade. She says since she started training, more people of all ages are diving into the sport.
“I’ve seen people go from grassroots to national level competitions representing team Alberta, team Canada at national and international events. It’s been cool to see people start from maybe not even knowing how to swim to now wanting to compete,” Cathcart said.
The Bears are the only swim club in Alberta specifically for athletes with disabilities. The fundraiser will help Edmonton and area swimmers get to their competitions and access specialized equipment. It also raises awareness of the amount of Para Sport programming in the city.
“All the money is going towards making more opportunities for us to be able to better our swimming skills, to be able to be more active and have a place in the community where we belong,” said Cathcart.
The event wrapped up Saturday afternoon, however, the program is still raising money until the 30th.