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Munro completes first swim to support children's program
Kingston this Week
STEVEN SERVISS
July 22, 2003
John Munro is helping create opportunities for kids, one marathon swim at a time.
Munro completed a 20-km swim from Lake Erie at Sturgeon Point, N.Y. to Crystal Beach, Ont. July 12 to raise funds for a program for children with physical disabilities at the Kingston Family YMCA.
Munro's Y Knot Marathon is a charitable swim that aims to raise $77,600 to support the children's program. About $16,000 has been raised so far.
All of the funds go directly to the programs offered at the Kingston Family YMCA.
Munro doesn't want exposure for personal reasons. He's doing this for kids who will benefit from the programs.
"It's not about me swimming," says Munro. "I'm just the vehicle. It's really about the kids."
He says that he'll do anything to raise the funds to operate the programs. Next month Munro will swim 52 km across Lake Ontario. The tentative date for the swim is Aug. 9.
"It is a tremendous feeling to be able to touch the lives of others in a positive and meaningful way," says Munro. "Sports provide self-esteem, organization skills and teamwork."
Munro is a retired police officer from Toronto and part-time firefighter for Loyalist Township. He and his coach and wife Vicki Keith have combined their efforts on several marathon swims in the past.
This was Munro's first time crossing Lake Erie. The swim was delayed three times because of weather. The waves calmed down to five feet at the roughest part of the day and the water temperature rose to 72 F from 68 F.
He trained for 46 weeks and swam about 525 km.
An experienced marathon swimmer, Munro has been a pace swimmer for Keith and others in their marathon swims. He is also a master swimmer who has helped swimmers with physical disabilities set world records.
Munro and Keith have worked to set up sports for the disabled in Kingston. Keith currently runs the Kingston Y Penguins swim club, a competitive swim club for athletes with physical disabilities. The couple wants the program to expand to include sports such as wheelchair basketball, bocci and track and field.
The YMCA recently acquired a third location in Kingston, the Beechgrove Campus, that will offer the additional gym and pool time required by sports for the disabled.
Recreation is important to allow children to get exercise and feel as though they belong, says Munro.
The local program now includes participants from Napanee to Harrowsmith to Gananoque.
The overall goal is to expand sports for the disabled programming at YMCA locations through Ontario and eventually Canada.
To make a donation call Heather at 546-2647 or visit the Web site at www.amherstisland.on.ca/YKnot .
Mail cheques to : Kingston Family YMCA c/o Heather Macdonald, 100 Wright Cres., Kingston, K7L 4T9. Write Y Knot Marathon in the cheque memo.
steve@kingstonthisweek.com
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