Well, LOST swimming is mostly the all the LOSTies… the swimmers. All of you that come out for a nice swim in Lake Ontario every Saturday morning in the summer. That number has grown incredibly since we started LOST in 2006.
Ya, I know I founded LOST Swimming and am the president… and usually the voice (usually literally) of LOST Swimming. But the the thing is… since it has grown over the years it has become far bigger than just me. It started as a place where I trained for the English Channel… but now it has grown into what everyone else is training for. Be it their first triathlon, or their 10th Ironman, or swimming across Lake Ontario, or swimming across the English Channel, or just someone who thinks it might be kinda cool to come and splash around in Lake O on a beautiful Saturday morning in Oakville. That’s what LOST swimming now represents.
This year we had 221 paid members of LOST (just down from the record year, last year, of 222)… but up from just 1 person in 2006. And that doesn’t include all the international swimmers that came and joined us this summer from: Belgium, South Africa, Scotland, Ireland, England, Italy, Columbia, Venezuela, Mexico, the US and all over Canada!
By the way, 220 members would make it the largest Masters swim team in Canada (or right up there). More than twice the size of Oakville Masters, Burlington Masters or Etobicoke Masters. And they are 3 of the largest master clubs in Ontario. Mind you… we do have more “pool space”. But that still counts.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, because I have been asked this… LOST is a “not-for-profit” organization. Which means we keep it cheap to join. We do try to make a bit of profit from registrations and the LOST Race… 100% of which we reinvest back into the club. It pays for equipment like buoys, kayaks, SUPs, as well as permits, insurance, etc. And nobody makes a dime off it… it is 100% volunteer run.
I think I can speak on behalf of everyone that swims with LOST, to say that we appreciate everybody that helps chip in on Saturday mornings to set up and close down. Even just a little bit. Because we have so many people that help, it keeps all the jobs in little, bite size pieces, so it isn’t a huge job for anybody. So thanks.
Anyway, I wanted to give some credit and thanks to the 18 people that more formerly made LOST Swimming and The LOST Race happen.
Here are the 18 members of the “LOST Board” this year:
Run by LOSTies… for LOSTies.
(you can see this at the bottom of the HOME page too).
Cheers,
Rob