Swimathon succeeds in year 30

LAKEVILLE — On Saturday, Sept. 7, The Hotchkiss School hosted the 30th annual Special Olympics Swimathon with 56 students, faculty members, and coaches swimming two miles across Lake Wononscopomuc.

Eight special guests from Special Olympics Slovakia joined the event, including four coaches – Eva Gazova, Martina Goglova, Dominika Nestarcova and Veronika Sedlackova – and four Special Olympics athletes – Peter Ispold, Vanda Kracunova, Darina Krihova and Andrej Petrik.

In preparation for the Swimathon, the coaches worked to assemble a team based not only on athletic skills, but also personal traits to manage the swimming conditions. “In addition to a long swimming distance, the open lake swimming is different from what the athletes are used to,” said Eva Gazova, national director of Special Olympics Slovakia.

The Swimathon was first organized in 1994 by Keith Moon, a Hotchkiss faculty member and a head swimming coach, and has run uninterrupted for the past 30 years. “During the pandemic, there was a year when I was the only one swimming, just to keep the tradition going,” Moon said.

In 2022, when the full-scale war broke out in Ukraine, Moon traveled to Slovakia, where he formed a partnership between Special Olympics Connecticut and Special Olympics Slovakia. This collaboration led to the creation of the Dream Day Center, an initiative designed to support Ukrainian refugee families with children who have intellectual disabilities. The center, located in Bratislava, Slovakia, opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees on October 10, 2022, and currently houses eight Ukrainian families with children diagnosed with autism.

The Swimathon aims to raise funds that will benefit both Special Olympics Connecticut and a Special Olympics Slovakia initiative. “Without the resources we wouldn’t be able to do our work. The Swimathon and the support it provides is unique not only for us, but for the Olympic International in general,” Gazova said.

This year, the swimmers faced strong waves and rain that began as they neared the finish. “We knew that the weather conditions would be challenging. Every year has its own difficulties and I am glad that we managed to complete the event despite the rain,” Moon said.

After the swim, all the participants were invited to a communal barbeque. State Rep. Maria Horn (D-64) joined the celebration and presented Moon with an Official Citation from the General Assembly in recognition of the Hotchkiss Swimathon.

This year, the fundraiser surpassed its goal with over $30,000 in donations.

Gazova said, “We told Ukrainian families that they are safe. We were happy to tell them that there are more stable months ahead of them.”