Team Website
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Former Florida Swimmers Jack Blyzinskyj, Dan Wallace and Harrison Haines, among two others, will attempt to swim the English Channel in record time to raise money in support of Ukrainian refugee crisis and Cancer Research sometime between June 9th and 15th.
The 40,000-meter gauntlet from England to France across the English Channel, known as the "Everest of Swimming", is considered the most grueling open water swim in the world. Besides being the world's busiest shipping lane, swimmers also have to contend with hypothermic water temperatures and the strongest underwater tides in Europe.
The five-person team attempting the swim are:
•
Jack Blyzinskyj, Olympic Trials finalist Team for Team GB, 11x NCAA All-American, UF Team Captain 2018. (UF Swimmer '14-'18)
•
Dan Wallace, Team GB Olympic Silver Medallist, World Champion, NCAA Champion, Commonwealth Champion (UF Swimmer '12-'16)
•
Harrison Haines, Australian, former University of Florida athlete ('15-'18)
•
Ross McWhirter, Scottish and GB Triathlete
•
Jordan Dunn, Scottish National Team member
Jack is of Ukrainian heritage, and is blending that with a lifetime of swimming to magnify his message.
"As a family with deep Ukrainian roots, the invasion was difficult to comprehend and impacted me
personally," Jack said. "My Grandfather was born in Western Ukraine during a time when the country was under Soviet occupation in the 1940's. At 15, just after WW2, - he had to flee his country of birth and found shelter in a refugee camp in Italy for a while, before settling in England."
More information, including a link to donate, is on the team's website:
https://www.meterbymeter.co.uk/
The full list of charities supported, and links to their respective websites, include:
Solidarité Ukraine:
https://solidariteukraine.ch/
Solidarité Ukraine is working with businesses, nonprofits and the government employment agency to place refugees in jobs. Like other European Union countries, France has given Ukrainians the right to live and work for up to three years.
Cancer Research UK:
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/
Cancer Research UK is a charity dedicated to finding cures and treatments for all types of cancer. They fund research, provide information and support to those affected by cancer, and campaign for policies to help prevent the disease.
Remember Us:
https://rememberus.org/
RememberUs.org is a public 501c3 nonprofit, operating in Ukraine and in the United States since December, 2013. RememberUs.org focuses on helping people in challenging situations, providing nonstop humanitarian aid to vulnerable Ukrainians living in warzones.
In the past 12 months RememberUs.org has provided critical relief to over 50,000 people with direct $100 cash payments, food, adult and children's clothes, medicine, hygienic supplies, winter heating units to homes, orphanages and hospitals, portable generators, and more.
Imperial College London Sanctuary Scholarship Fund: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/giving/donate/sanctuary-scholarship-fund/
Imperial College London is one of the world's leading universities, where students from around the world come to study science, engineering, medicine and business. It has launched a Sanctuary Scholarship fund to provide undergraduate and master's degree scholarships for individuals who have been forced to leave their home countries due to war or civil conflict, including students from Ukraine. Gifts to the Imperial College Sanctuary Scholarship Fund will be matched pound for pound by the College, meaning that every donation will go twice as far.
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