William Calhoun is prepared to spend a lot of time in the pool Saturday in Summerside.
The coach of the province’s Canada Games swim team has pledged to stay in the Credit Union Place pool until he reaches his goal of $2,000 for the team’s swim-a-thon.
“I will be there in the water floating around until such time as I get to that $2,000 mark,” he said Wednesday.
It begs to question, just how long can he last?
“I have done a 24-hour swim before,” he said, quickly noting it was about 15 years ago. “If I need to, I am hoping I won’t (have to), I will stay out there all night.”
The 30-member team is trying to raise $7,500 through a 10-kilometre swim-a-thon Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. The money will be used for the team’s training camp in Spain in March as it prepares for 2013 Games in Sherbrooke, Que.
While there are facilities in North America, as close as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, capable of hosting the team, Calhoun said there are advantages of going to Europe.
“What the Spain environment gives us is an opportunity to train at a facility that is dedicated towards us performing at our best,” Calhoun said.
The facility is located within walking distance to its accommodations, providing athletes an opportunity to train twice a day for three to four hours at a time during their nine days of training.
The team is hoping to ends its nearly 30-year medal drought at the Canada Games. Katherine Josey won silver in the 100-metre freestyle in Saint John, N.B. in 1985. It is the only medal the province has ever won in swimming.
“We are setting a bold target of three” medals, Calhoun said. “I think we have the athletes in the water that certainly will be able to accomplish that feat.”
To donate to the cause email olympicdream@mac.com, tweet @swimbluephin or call 316-1300 or visit the swimmers Saturday.
