Guelph man to attempt Lake Ontario crossing
Miguel Vadillo shows off the bracelets he’s selling to rais …Kim Mackrael
GUELPH – When Miguel Vadillo read that a Toronto mother and her two daughters drowned trying to rescue each other from the deep end of a hotel pool last summer, he was floored.
“It’s so stupid. It’s a hotel pool, so the distance you need to move can’t be beyond 10-metres,” the former competitive swimmer said.
“If you’re not able to move 10-metres in the water — that must be an awful experience.”
Convinced the drownings were preventable, Vadillo resolved to do something to help more people access basic swimming lessons.
This month, the 40-year-old Guelph resident will attempt to swim across Lake Ontario to raise money for disadvantaged kids to take lessons through Canadian Tire’s Jumpstart swim program.
If he reaches his fundraising goal of $10,000, he’ll be able to send 300 kids to swimming lessons.
The money hasn’t come in as quickly as he had hoped — he’s raised just a quarter of his goal so far — but Vadillo said even a smaller donation to the Jumpstart program will help.
“If what we’re doing ends up with even a few kids learning how to swim and having that life insurance around water, we did something good,” he said.
Last week, Ontario’s acting chief coroner announced he will investigate a surge in drowning deaths across the province.
According to the Lifesaving Society, 75 people have drowned in Ontario so far this year — up from 64 at this time last year.
Speaking at a fundraising party for his Lake Ontario swim Saturday night, Vadillo told guests their donations toward swimming lessons could help save lives. About 30 people crowded into Senor Chipotle restaurant on Willow Road for the event.
Rhiannon Hawksby, who came to the fundraiser with friends, said she admires Vadillo’s efforts.
“Learning how to swim is almost a necessity now,” the University of Guelph student said. “If you don’t know how it takes away so much of the fun you can have as a kid.”
Hawksby said she grew up around lakes and pools and can’t imagine a childhood without them.
The mother and daughters who drowned in the hotel pool last year had never learned to swim. The family moved to Canada from Pakistan in 2002, where swimming is less common.
A recent report by the Lifesaving Society found that immigrants are four times as likely to be non-swimmers as people born in Canada, putting them at a much higher risk for drowning.
Vadillo, who moved to Canada from Mexico six years ago, said recent immigrants often have too many other concerns — such as finding a job and learning English — to worry about enrolling their kids in swimming lessons.
But he said it’s hard to keep kids who can’t swim away from the water.
“Kids get invited to pool parties, and you’re just surrounded by water here. There is an opportunity and there is a risk,” he said.
Vadillo said his own 12-year-old son, Santiago, was lucky because he learned to swim in Mexico before the family moved.
Now Santiago is helping his father with the fundraising efforts. He came up with an idea to sell blue rubber bracelets that say “Learning to Swim Can Save a Life” in support of his father’s lake crossing.
“You don’t have to learn to swim 50-kilometres — just the basics. That’s all you need so you can go to the pool and splash around with your friends,” Santiago said.
Sales from the blue bracelets will help Vadillo cover the costs of the swim. Registration with Solo Swims of Ontario, the volunteer group that regulates Lake Ontario crossings, costs $1,000. Vadillo also needs to secure four boats to accompany him through the choppy waters. He’s fundraising separately for Jumpstart lessons through his website.
Vadillo plans to attempt the 52-kilometre swim across Lake Ontario on Aug. 10. The swim will likely take close to 20 hours and temperatures could drop as low as 10C.
He has trained for the swim since September, sometimes as often as 40 hours a week while maintaining his job at the Toronto Star and coaching the Guelph Marlins.
To donate to Jumpstart or learn more about Vadillo’s swim, visit his website at malvaswimlakeontario.typepad.com.