Citizens swim for cancer awareness

Over the years there have been no shortage of public events in support of worthy causes. But an upcoming event on the long Baron Bliss Holiday weekend will push the concept of fund raising to a new limit.

The sometimes choppy waters of the Corozal Bay, will be the venue for this ambitious exercise. Over the past weeks, a group of young and not so young men and women have been fine tuning their swimming skills in preparation for the March eighth swimming relay. The event has been organized to raise funds for cancer awareness. According to two of the participants, Manuel Lizarraga and Juliet Hinds, swimming across the Corozal Bay was not a difficult decision to make.

Juliet Hinds

“I think it?s like the cancer motto, you know. We need you today, tomorrow you may need us, and I think that’s particularly true. I also have quite a few friends who have suffered or who are suffering with cancer now. So for me its important that I show my support.”

Manuel Lizarraga, Organizer, Swim Relay

“In this interview, I want to stress the fact that we want to look more at the cause than the credit for the swim, you know. You see cancer does not have any prejudices, it affects anyone and everyone at all ages and at any place, you know. So we are asking the public to please come out and support the swim.”

While the swimmers are not required to do any specific style of swimming, there is a definite relay plan.

Manuel Lizarraga

“Well we will be having several distances, because we will be having a relay of at least a dozen swimmers. So we will be having swimmers, swimming up to fifteen to twenty minutes each, plus we will have three long distance swimmers who will swim across the bay.”

The relay swim will cover a seventy five mile course.