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SwimBowen raised $27,000

They say there are no guarantees in life, but I beg to differ. You can count on the Bowen Island community to pull out all the stops to champion events and causes they love––such as SwimBowen.
SwimBowen

They say there are no guarantees in life, but I beg to differ. You can count on the Bowen Island community to pull out all the stops to champion events and causes they love––such as SwimBowen. 

With clear skies and calm seas, second annual SwimBowen event was a stunning success thanks to our enthusiastic swimmers, an army of rock star volunteers and stunningly generous corporate and community sponsors and donors. And yes, the fabulous weather was a definite bonus! 

Organizing SwimBowen is a balancing act of hammering through the details until you can hardly stand it, and then stepping back (hard for me) to watch the day unfold. All the planning was worth every minute as we watched the joy of the swimmers, the exuberant spectators and the satisfaction of the volunteers knowing that they had knocked it out of the park.

The top finishers of the 1000 metre event are: Kisley Barbic, 13:35 (12 years old!), Timothy Murphy, 12:29, second place Rachel Schoeler with a time of 13:51 and Scott Curry with a time of 12:50, third place Sophie Kelk with a time of 13:59 and Bowen’s own David Bellringer with a time of 13:00. Well done all!

Between our corporate sponsors and donations, together we raised an incredible $27,000 for the Cancer Care Fund. Jlonka Bally Brown is this year’s top fundraiser with donations of $3,382.70. 

When presented with the grand prize of accommodations at Chateau Fairmont Whistler, dinner, breakfast and lift tickets ($1,100 value), Jlonka ever so generously passed the gift onto second runner-up Katherine Wolters (a close second with $3,321.18). Katherine has recently walked the cancer treatment road and knows all too well the challenges. How perfect she was gifted the first prize. And how perfectly Bowen for this generosity to shine through in spades at the awards ceremony. These are the moments we work so hard for all year, the stuff you just can’t plan and makes all the planning worth it. 

Dear Bowen Island and beyond: the SwimBowen organizing committee is gobsmacked with your generosity and enthusiasm. Thank you. 

Mark your calendars for SwimBowen 2020: July 18.