Here I Go Again!!!

I can hardly believe it has been almost a year and a half since my team and I made it across Lake Ontario. At the same time, it seems like forever ago.

I am going to summarize the last year and a half as a whirlwind. It has been fun, and I have learned so much about life and public speaking. I met Prime Minister Harper and all the people in Ottawa who gave me a standing ovation in Parliament when I was invited there to receive the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. I have also met Elizabeth Manley, Walter Gretzky, Paul Henderson, Joe Carter, Devon White, Eddie Shack, Dennis Hull, Jeff Francis, Brutus Beefcake, Jerry Haworth, Damon Warner, Joe Bartoch, David Willsie, Bruce Cockburn, Victoria Duffield, Wendel Clark, and I even made NHL tough guy Darren McCarty cry. There are so many more people I have met that it is just crazy.

I had a day with the Toronto Maple Leafs, with James Reimer giving my brother Ayden and me one of his goalie sticks each, and being interviewed on the Leafs bench by Brooke Pashley between periods in front of 20,000 people. I spent an evening with the Raptors, meeting many of the players and having a great chat on the bench with Jose Calderon only a few days before he was traded. Raptors assistant coach Jama and ambassador Jamaal Magloire are two of the greatest guys I have ever met, and Jamaal is one of the tallest. I met plenty of Leaf alumni and players while I was the Honorary Ambassador for the Inaugural MLSE Team Up Challenge in support of Camp Trillium.

I have become good friends with His Honour, Ontario Lieutenant Governor David Onley, and his wonderful wife, Ruth Ann, who is from my hometown of Simcoe. I am also friends with Shane Feldman, the founder and producer of Count Me In Canada and one of the top 20 Canadians under 20 years old. Both Shane and His Honour were kind enough to come to Simcoe in August 2013 for the renaming of the Simcoe Rec Centre pool to the Annaleise Carr Aquatic Centre.

I travelled to Alberta, Miami, all over Ontario speaking and swimming in fundraising events, and to Ireland to receive the 2012 World Open Water Swimming Association Woman of the Year award. The greatest highlight, however, was getting to speak to my hero, Marilyn Bell DiLascio. Without her, I would not have had this way to help the kids and families at Camp Trillium.

That leads me to Norfolk County. This is my home and I love it. The County has treated me so well: renaming the pool, the parade, commemorative signs in Walsh, and now partnering with me for this swim attempt across Lake Erie. Landing in Norfolk is the most important thing for me because I want to swim home. The support of sponsors and people from here and all over has been more than overwhelming.

Why do this again? Camp Trillium. For those of us who are blessed to not be affected by childhood cancer, we have no idea what these people go through. “Until there is a cure, there is Camp Trillium.” It is a saying I hear over and over. There is no doubt that life is not fair, specifically for a lot of kids in this world. When we can help people in need, it is such an honour.

As you can see in the logo for this swim, the AC looks like a drop of water. A drop of water by itself can seem small, like me, and even insignificant. But what happens when you put a drop of water into a puddle or lake? When you put a drop of water into a lake, ripples form. Then this one drop becomes significant because of the ripple it creates, and the rings spread farther and farther. This happens in our lives too. Each of us touches the lives of those around us. That is what happened when I swam across Lake Ontario for Camp Trillium, and it is my goal with Lake Erie too. Having the honour to touch other lives is such a wonderful thing.

I would like to invite you to partner with my team and me on this journey and form one, or many, of those rings.