The Goal: To swim from Grand Beach to Gimli, Manitoba. The distance is about 26km but may be a bit further depending on the skill level of my trusted navigator, Rene Bourbonnais shown below with our two boys, Walt and Jake. Right photo is our Daughter Maddy and I one the beach close to the launch point.
Why?
To celebrate the fifth anniversary of my stem cell transplant for Non-Hodkins Lymphoma and raise money for The Alberta Cancer Foundation and the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation.
I was first diagnosed with NHL in 1999 and treated with Chemotherapy in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the Health Sciences Centre. Things went well and I was cancer free for 20 years and then I had a reoccurrence in 2019. On January 10th, 2020 I underwent a stem cell transplant at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary, Alberta and here we are 5 years later! This is a photo of my wife Laura and I ringing the gong in the courtyard of the new Arthur E.J. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Calgary.
This was my first visit to this fabulous new facility which was for my 5-year checkup.
Walking into the centre made me feel very happy that Calgary had such a wonderful place for cancer patient’s treatment and support. I also realized that the building and equipment are still not enough and funds are continuously needed for the vital research and the next breakthrough. I hope to raise money with this swim to help continue the good work of research against all forms of cancer.
To donate, please click on either the Alberta or Manitoba flag which will take you to the respective Cancer Foundations for each province. You can also donate to the Health Sciences Center Foundation by clicking on their logo below.
The swim attempt is planned for late July or early August 2025. Training is progressing but still a lot of laps left to get in.
I was fortunate to have a coaching session with the Yuri “the missile” Kisil who is a three-time Olympian at the MNP pool in Calgary.
The reason for difference in height between us is that Yuri was standing on the podium where he’s most comfortable!
Thank you for visiting my page and your support!
Jonathon Fenton