THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Published: Sept. 14, 2008 3:00 a.m.
By LAYLAN CONNELLY
Local OC Fire Dispatcher Joins the Initiative
Jason Lezak showed up in Newport Beach for the 1-mile swim to help raise awareness for water safety
NEWPORT BEACH As a dispatcher for the Orange County Fire Authority, Megan Soman has had her share of calls from frantic parents whose child has drowned or almost drowned in a pool.
So when she heard she had a chance to support water safety by doing an ocean swim at Corona del Mar, she showed up on the sand to give it a shot. “It’s the worst kind of call, when someone calls and says ‘my kid is in the water’,” she said.
Soman was joined by about 160 people for the sixth annual “Swim for Life” event, where swimmers of all ages completed a 1-mile course in the 68-degree ocean.
YEAAA: Johnny Johnson, Swim for Life founder and owner of the Blue Buoy swim school in Tustin, exuberantly crosses the finish at the 6th annual ocean swim. The event raised awareness for water safety.
FAMOUS SWIMMER: OLYMPIC Gold Medalist Jason Lezak Is on hand at the Swim for Life Foundation’s 6th annual Ocean swim
promoting water safety. About 150 took part In a 1.5-mile course in Corona Del Mar
GETTING OUT A MESSAGE: Olympic swimmingchampionJason Lezak was on hand to give out bracelets at the 6th Annual Swim
for Life event Del Mar. This year’s theme was “Drowning is Preventable”.
Jason Lezak at the Finish Line
Many participants were stoked that Irvine resident and Olympian Jason Lezak, who won two gold and one bronze medals in Beijing, was at the finish line to congratulate their accomplishments with a blue wristband that read “Drowning is Preventable.”
“It’s like, oh my God, Superman!” said swimmer Lynn Kubasek, 50. “He’s like, super human.”
Lezak, the oldest U.S. male swimmer at this year’s Olympics at 32, learned to swim at age 3 from the event’s organizer, Johnny Johnson. When he was announced at the event, the crowd cheered, some chanting “USA! USA!”
“It’s a great honor,” he said. “If I can make a difference in just one of their lives, it would be great.”
Lezak said he was taking a break from swimming, and hasn’t been in the water for four weeks. He stayed dry during Sunday’s event.
“I definitely wouldn’t be able to hang with the top guys,” he said. “But I think I’d be OK out there.”
Casey Duckworth, 13, still breathing heavy after the swim, said having Lezak greet her was “really cool.”
“He’s a really amazing swimmer,” she said. “It was a nice ending to it.”
Lezak came from behind in the 4 X 100 to keep Michael Phelps in the hunt for eight gold medals. In a Sports Illustrated poll, readers called it the most memorable moment of the 2008 games.
OC Resident Kim Patrick Lost 2 Year Old and Joins the Event
For Kim Patrick, who drove up from San Diego, the main goal of the day was to support the message of water safety. Her 2-year-old child drowned 9 years ago in the family’s swimming pool, and she’s dedicated her life to making a difference.
Had she paid more attention to the importance of water safety – by putting up a barrier in the pool, teaching her child how to swim, and learning CPR – things might have been different, she said.
“Drowning is preventable. That’s the hard part,” she said. “People think it won’t happen to them. It’s up to us as parents to know what to do.”
Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.com or 714-445-6678
CHAMPIONS: 1976 Olympic gold Medalist Bruce Furniss, left, and Mike Wintheiser finish the Swim for Life 1.5 mile course in Corona Del Mar Sunday.
SOLID GOLD: Past and present Olympic winners from left: Andrew Strenk (1968, Bruce Furniss (1976), John Mykkanen (1984) and Jason Lezak (2008) gather for a historic photo at the Swim for Life Foundations 6th annual swim.
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