I've spent most of my life in or around water.  Summers always meant time spent in pools, lakes, rivers, and nowadays seeking out the perfect Central Texas swimming hole.  Coming from a family that loved water, I learned how to swim very early in life.  Years later I found my way to summer swim teams, and in my adult life it would help morph me into a solid middle-of-the-pack triathlete.  I consider myself to be an incredible swimmer, and in 2018 I started guiding blind athletes in open water swims. 

Surprisingly, after all these years and time I've spent around water, even with a blind athlete depending on me, drowning has rarely been on my mind....and it absolutely needs to be!  None of us are invincible when it comes to drowning.  I learned this at a very young age on a couple of 911 calls years ago when I was a paramedic...and yet it's still not something I think about as much as I should.  You can be the best swimmer in the world and the wrong circustances can turn a routine swim, or fun day on the water with your family, into life or death situation.  Noboby is drown-proof.

This year I'm teaming up with a couple of my awesome triathlon and bike riding friends, John White and Ruben Reyes, to participate in the Collin's Hope Got 2 Swim 10K.  We have to do a better job raising water safety awareness, especially for children who continue to be the most vulnerable demographic to drowning deaths.  I'm hoping that as our friends and family follow us along our journey to prepare for the swim in August in Lake Austin, you too will get your friends and families involved in discussions about proper water safety. 

We are raising funds for Colin's Hope, which is a local organization right here in Central Texas doing incredible things to help keep children, and adults, safe around water.  Colin's Hope is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that creates and supports programs that aid in preventing children from drowning. Despite numerous sources for water safety, the number of children who drown per year is staggering. Colin's Hope of saving children from drowning is being achieved through increased water safety awareness and improved standards throughout the community.