So LOST Swimming has been nominated for the award for the World Open Water Swimming “Offering of the Year”!!!
And put quite simply, we win the award if we get the most votes… so on behalf of all the LOSTies out there… we’d really like your vote!!! (and all your friends and family’s vote too!)
Click here to VOTE (we are #6, in the 4th category of “Offerings”)
That was for the “cut to the chase” readers who just want to know what this is about and want to know how vote. It takes 2 minutes. And is much appreciated.
For anyone who is still reading, let me explain why we want and, I think, deserve your vote.
First for the pragmatic reason. We have applied for a Ontario Trillium Grant. Which is a grant the government of Ontario gives out for all kinds of reasons and purposes, including to sports organizations. As a swimmer, triathlete, or a friend of swimmer and a especially an open water swimmer… well, you know that most of the real world doesn’t know much about our sport. So if we were able to put on our application that we were not some Mickey Mouse club in some obscure sport, but rather an open water swim team with recognition from around the world to such a degree that we won an award from the World Open Water Swimming Association, well I think it would help our credibility and improve the exposure of LOST Swimming and open water swimming in general.
And the second reason we want you to vote for us… is because it would be really cool to win! I’m not above saying that I would be really proud to win the award. When I started LOST Swimming in 2006 in order train for my English Channel attempt, I certainly wasn’t doing it so that 9 years later I would win a WOWSA award… but hey, I’ll take it.
To dedicate every Saturday morning from June to September… every year since 2006… one isn’t doing it for the monetary rewards (haha, every penny we make goes back into LOST Swimming by the way)… or the WOWSA awards either. Make no mistake about it, the LOST Board and countless volunteers we’ve had over the years (thanks, btw!) do a lot of work organizing LOST Swimming, The LOST Race, The LOST Travel Team, The Canadian Open Water Swim Series and all the other events… because it is worth it. So if we aren’t doing it for the money or fame… it must be because of the friendships, the camaraderie, the adventure… oh, and because we really like open water swimming!
These pictures pretty much say it all. And all I ever wanted to do was to share that fun and adventure with other like-minded people and promote and grow the sport. So if you think that is worth it… then take 2 minutes and vote for LOST Swimming. Thanks.
Rob
PS. The next LOST Swim will be Jan 1, 12:00, for the Polar Bear Dip… unless you are Madhu, Mark or Loren… who are training to swim the Strait of Magellan… then the next training swim/Polar Bear Dip is tomorrow! Way to go guys, keep the LOST Swimming name out there all around the world! And making us LOSTies proud!
PPS. For the more sane LOST Swimmers… hope you had fun at the Barbados Open Water Swim Festival on the weekend!!! Send pics and have a pina colada for me!
PPPS. I’m of course torn about who to vote for in the other categories (actually there are lots of other worthy people and friends in our category too… Susie Dodds, Bruckner Chase, Evan Morrison, Kent Nicholas, Ned Denison… but vote for LOST anyway!)… because I know a lot of them, some are Canadian, but regardless they are all worthy… but feel like I need to give a special tip of the hat to a few: Man of the Year – Adam Walker, Colin Hill, Phil White, Joe Locke and fellow Canadian, Xavier Desharnais are all spectacular swimmers and great builders in the sport. Woman of the Year – Chloe McCardel and fellow Canadian Susan Simmons both had unbelievable swims! And for Performance of the Year – there is Vicki Keith’s crew and Trinity Arsenault, both worthy as well!
Happy voting!
