Swim for a Cure by Kelsey H. Hargesheimer

Posted: Feb 9, 2012 at 4:07 PM [Feb 9, 2012]

The A2A3 Relay Team's Quest to Cure ALS: They’re Raising $120,000

By Swimming The English Channel  

     Some days it’s hard just to keep your head above the water. But not for a six-woman relay team in Ann Arbor—they are diving deeper and swimming for a cure! The Relay Team is part of A2A3—Ann Arbor Active Against ALS—a charity founded by Kristin McGuire and Dave Lowenschuss to help University of Michigan Professor Bob Schoeni, diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in 2008.

      The Relay Team needs help in their quest to cure ALS. They hope to raise $120,000 when they will swim the English Channel from England to France, and back, during the London Olympics next July. The Team wants to beat the previous record of 18 hours and 59 minutes.

 Swimming For A Cure 

     A2A3 “encourages people to be active as a way to counter what ALS does—prevents people from being physically active altogether.” And The Relay Team is doing just that. Swimming The Channel was the idea of Amanda Mercer, the unofficial captain of the team. Her energy and ideas have been driving their rigorous training schedule for more than a year.       “Right now,” says Amanda, “The (training) goal is four days a week in the water, three weight workouts a week and one additional cardio—usually the elliptical at the Y.” The women have been training at various Ann Arbor swimming holes, including Canham Natatorium at the University of Michigan, Mack Pool, the YMCA, and during the summer, The Huron Valley Swim Club and the Fuller Park Pool.       The A2A3/Channel for ALS Relay Team is raising money through donations, pledges, and from people virtually crossing The Channel.       “I essentially stole it (the idea for the Virtual Crossing) from an Australian who was swimming the Channel for charity, whom I found online,” Amanda says. “I tweaked it a little bit to fit what we were doing. Individuals can swim, run, or walk the channel ‘virtually’ on their own schedule. For a $20 donation, people can track their progress online, on our website, and then will receive a commemorative ‘Channel for ALS’ pin for their effort. They will also get their name on our ‘Finishers’ page.       “We actually have a woman from Boston, named Susan Rice, who stumbled upon our website and decided to do the virtual crossing. She, however, took it a step further and asked for her own fundraising page. We gave her one and she has now raised over $1,000. And the best part is that she hates swimming!       “Teams can also participate in the virtual crossing as a joint fundraiser for their program and for A2A3/Channel for ALS,” Amanda says. “This fall, four local high school teams participated (Ann Arbor Pioneer Girls Cross-Country, Ann Arbor Skyline Girls Swimming, Milan Girls Swimming, and Ann Arbor Huron Girls Swimming) and raised more than $4,900 (some teams elected to give A2A3 more than fifty per cent.) We hope to have boys’ high school swim teams participate this winter and then track teams this spring.”

      Donations will not pay for any part of the Teams’ travel expense to London.

     “We are paying for our own travel costs (airfare/room and board),” says Amanda. “Although when we first all agreed to do this, we anticipated round-trip airfare to be around $1,000—at most. Unfortunately, because of the Olympics, the tickets are now around $1,800. So we are trying to find people who might be willing to donate their miles. If someone has the full amount of points needed (for example, Delta requires 90,000 points) they can then just purchase the ticket in one of our names. The problem arises when someone wants to donate a lesser amount of points—they can do that and transfer the points to one of us—but then a fee is charged.”

      Raising $120,000 for ALS, and paying to do it, is a physical, mental, and monetary, challenge. “I would prefer to think of us as ‘The Little Engine (or non-profit) that Could,’” quotes Amanda.

 Different Laps of Life 

     The A2A3/Channel for ALS Relay Team has the drive, discipline, and attitude, from six very different laps of life, to accomplish their goal.

      Originally from Clinton Township, Amanda, 43, attended Michigan State University from 1986-1990 where she swam Varsity. She was also graduated from Wayne State University Law School and Indiana University. Amanda was the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for Washtenaw County from 1994-1999, and she returned to Ann Arbor in 2007. She now has her own law practice, husband, house, and two children: daughter Dawsen, age 7, and son Dex, age 5.

       Amanda met her husband, Todd Mercer, at Michigan State University. “Since Todd’s a swimmer as well, he is fully on board and completely understands what is involved and what this means to me. We plan on putting him in a woman’s suit in case we need an alternate at the last minute,” she jokes.        “And the kids are actually starting to get pretty excited about my swim, too,” she says. “Sometimes I overhear them telling complete strangers that their Mom is ‘swimming the Channel for ALS.’ Not sure how much they actually understand, but something is getting in.”   The Starting Line       It was in December of 2009 that Amanda’s friends, Kristin and Dave, asked her to join the A2A3 Board.       “I actually still didn’t know Bob (Schoeni) that well. I knew I liked him—you really cannot like Bob or his wife Gretchen—they are just those kinds of people. And I just hated learning (that Bob was diagnosed with ALS) and that it has no effective treatment or cure. There are no drug companies trying to find a cure because it is not a profitable undertaking. This is why ALS is labeled an ‘orphan’ disease—there are not enough people alive at one time for the drug companies to see profitability—but that’s because the average life expectancy of someone diagnosed with ALS is two to five years.        “Since being on the Board, I have certainly gotten to know Bob and Gretchen, as well as their girls, much better. They are really this fantastic family—and that is honestly not tempered by the fact that Bob has ALS, so you feel compelled to say something nice.        “One of the huge benefits to being on the board of A2A3 is how it benefits my kids. When we have meetings, the older kids (including Bob and Gretchen’s daughters, Sophie and Maddie Schoeni) help watch the little kids and they have a ball. All of our kids are at all of our events—it’s this whole extended family.        “One of the reasons that I wanted to do this relay swim with these women,” says Amanda, “is that it was going to be about the journey of doing this crazy thing together. I really like and admire every one of my teammates…I feel very fortunate to call these five unique and amazing women—whom all happen to be great swimmers—my friends.”  Bethany Williston, 40, from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, attended Yale University 1989-1993, where she swam Varsity. She was graduated from the University of Michigan, Nutrition and Kinesiology, in 1995. And like so many students, Bethany decided to stay in Ann Arbor. She started coaching Masters (swimming for adults) for the City of Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation Department in 1996. Other than a few years she took off, Bethany has been coaching the evening Masters program ever since, all while being a full-time mom. 

Though no longer in school, Bethany is still learning. And still swimming.

“The best thing about doing this event is being a part of something bigger and more important than I usually am in life,” she says.” Also, this is a much healthier mid-life crisis than buying a sports car!”

 

Melissa Karjala, 32, is the only home-grown member of the Team. She attended the University of Michigan from 1997-2001, where she played Water Polo. She also received her Master’s from the University of Michigan, and is currently ending a Research Administrator position at the University. Melissa is now attending graduate school at Eastern Michigan University and pursuing a Master’s degree in education.

 

·         Susan Butcher, 32, from Michigan City, Indiana, attended Eastern Michigan University and swam for them from 1997-2001, Indiana University 2003-2006, and grad school at the University of Iowa, from 2007-2009. She returned to Ann Arbor in 2009. Currently Susan is the Athletic Trainer for Canton High School, contracted through Michigan Rehabilitation Specialists. ·

 

 

 

 

 

     The A2A3/Channel for ALS Relay Team is so busy, two members were not interviewed:

 

Jenny Sutton Jalet is from Huntington Woods, Michigan. She attended the University of Michigan from 1989-1993, where she swam Varsity. Jenny chose Central Michigan University for graduate school. She is currently employed by the Athletic Department at the University of Michigan as the Director Premium Seating and Transportation Team. And like Amanda and Bethany, Jenny also is a full-time Mom.

 

And the last Relay Team Member is Emily Kreger, their honorary Ann Arborite because she spends so much time here swimming. Emily is from Wyandotte, Michigan. She attended Yale University, 1995-1999, where she also swam Varsity. Emily was graduated from the University of Michigan and Wayne State University Medical School. Currently she is a first year resident in General Surgery at the Detroit Medical Center.

 

How the Race is Run       First of all, “It’s important to note,” says Melissa, “this is a timed-swim, not a race.” 

    Amanda continues, “We had our first ‘Channel Meeting’ in July 2010. On August 23, 2010, we made our official boat deposit with our pilot, Michael Oram. Before our swim begins, we will determine our order in consultation with him. And once we start, it cannot be changed.

 

       “When the first swimmer begins, she will swim for one hour. The Gallivant (the official on the boat that accompanies the Team) tells the next swimmer when to get in the water. When she does, she enters behind the swimmer, and they are not allowed to touch. The switch will occur every hour as dictated by the official.”

 

      Susan explains how Cold-Water training is such an important aspect of the Channel swim. (Temperatures in The Channel average between 59 degrees and 64.5 degrees Fahrenheit.) “Also with the cold-water aspect, we'll have a two- hour cold water certification that has to be done before we swim. So acclimatizing to the cold will be very important. We've been doing lots of research and talking to others (about the) English Channel/cold water swimming, to help prepare, as well.”

      If you can donate to The A2A3/Channel for ALS Relay Team in their quest to cure ALS, you won’t even need to get wet. Visit http://www.channelforals.org/ to go with the flow. Please help The A2A3/Channel for ALS Relay Team swim for a cure!

      And when the London Olympics are finished, what’s next for these six swimmers?

“Maybe a nap,” says Melissa