Friends Swim 26.2 Miles for Local Cancer Charity

Increasing the distance for a third year!

Jim Cottam and Dr. Chris Lechner will set out on September 17th for another long distance open water swim at Fontana Lake. Joining Jim and Chris for approximately 6.2 miles will be Todd Newnam, a parent of one of the swimmers Jim coaches, and Larry Hartley, a local attorney. Luke Lechner, Camille Long, Ashleigh Lechner, Anna Newnam, Susan McKenzie and Sara Laws will be joining them for shorter intervals. These long distance swimmers will be in the water together again to raise money and awareness for cancer survivors. This year, in addition to benefiting The Hope Chest for Women, a portion of the money raised will benefit WNC Aquatic Center, a new independent, not for profit/tax advantage legal entity formed to construct, maintain, and manage a multi use Aquatic Center.

For the past two years, we have used Fundly (https://fundly.com/that-dam-swim-2016) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/thatdamswim) to fundraise for That Dam Swim for Hope. Cottam, whose wife, Debbie, is a breast cancer survivor, said, “I want to raise money again for The Hope Chest for Women, which pays medical and nonmedical bills for women in treatment with breast or gynecologic cancer living across Western North Carolina.” Dr. Lechner emphasized that his motivation to participate stems from being a physician who sees patients with breast cancer and his mother-in-law who is a three time breast cancer survivor. Lechner and Cottam dreamed up That Dam Swim together and Lechner is no stranger to long distance swims, having swum 95 miles across Lake Michigan in the summer of 2015 and 70 miles across Lake Michigan this summer. He calls long distance swimming meditational and relaxing and said it fulfills his need for adventure. Lechner also expressed that, “it is difficult when swimming for hours on end dealing with hunger and fatigue but it is even more difficult for a woman dealing with the challenges of breast cancer. I hope our swimming will not only raise money for this excellent organization but also encourage women who are dealing with cancer to “stay the course”!”

This year, Cottam and Lechner will swim an estimated 22 plus miles in 12-14 hours of swimming at Lake Fontana. “It would be nice if we could finish between 22 and 26.2 miles” stated Cottam. Jim, whose motivation is to inspire and encourage others to join him in raising money for local cancer survivors, began training in early summer. When asked about his motivation for participating in the swim, Todd Newnam said, “I am participating after being inspired by Jim and Chris having done several very long distance swims and Jim letting me know that the first major milestone in open water swimming is the 10k (which is considered the swimming equivalent to a marathon).”

Courtesy of ThatDamSwim Facebook

“It is nice to know we are raising money for a local nonprofit that supports women in our community,” stated Cottam. While logging more than 20,000 strokes to reach Fontana Dam, the two longtime friends remain motivated by the stories they’ve heard of women who were dealing with cancer. With the help of 75 donors, Jim, Dave Easterling, and Frank Kriegler netted $6,475 in 2015. Added to the total of $9,365 raised in 2014, these fellows raised over $15,840 in two years!

The kind folks at Almond Boat and RV have graciously donated the use of a pontoon support boat for the day. Their dock manager, Jeff Mathis, said that while he has never been personally affected by breast cancer, the kids in the P.E. classes he taught raised about $80,000 for Jump Rope for Heart over the past fifteen years. When asked about his business’ decision to sponsor the swim, he said, “there are a lot of people that have needs that aren’t met with just money.” We have also received sponsorships from Fontana Village Resort and Marina in the form of the use of a pontoon boat and a kayak and food, water, and Gatorade from Sam’s Club.

How can you show your support and join Jim and Chris? The support team of donors, additional swimmers, kayakers and boaters will be needed again this year to help Cottam, Lechner, and Newnam reach their goals. “We will need people to join us at Fontana Lake to provide support during our long distance swim,” stated Cottam. You can contact Jim directly to learn more about the swim and join the support team at [email protected] or [email protected].

Donations can be made online through The Hope Chest for Women website, through www.thatdamswim.com, or via Facebook.com/ThatDamSwim, which connects to our Fundly site. You can also send donations to The Hope Chest for Women, P.O. Box 5294, Asheville NC, 28813.

Courtesy of Jim Cottam and Dr. Chris Lechner.