Lake Erie Crossing Fundraiser
ELIZABETH BANDUCCI SWAM ACROSS LAKE ERIE ON AUGUST 24, 2019!
Support Elizabeth in her goal to raise funds to support Defend Dignity.
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Distance
20
Kilometers
Location
Lake Erie
USA to Canada
August
23-25
Depending on Weather
The Story
Elizabeth Banducci is swimming across Lake Erie to raise funds for Defend Dignity in August, 2019!
Elizabeth is 16 years old and attends St Thomas Aquinas Secondary school in Brampton, Ontario where she lives with her parents and younger brother, Justin. They all attend Bramalea Alliance Church.
Swimming has always been a part of her life. She started at 6 months old! She has done synchronized swimming through Etobicoke Olympian. At age 12 Elizabeth joined the Dorado Stars Swim Club in Caledon, Ontario. She swam with them for 2.5 years until it was finally discovered that she had a tumour on her knee. Elizabeth faced surgery not knowing whether the knee was benign or malignant and kept on swimming. Sometimes she would need crutches to leave the pool. The surgery at Toronto's Sick Kids hospital was a success. The tumour was benign and with physiotherapy she kept strengthening and swimming.
Elizabeth is currently swimming on her high school team.
In the fall of 2018 she started working at Embrace Swimming Aquatic Centre, owned by Miguel Vadillo who is Elizabeth’s coach. It was here she got the idea to swim across Lake Erie. Her coach, Miguel, has swum across Lake Ontario and has helped her idea to become a reality. She didn’t want to swim such a major distance just for self- gratification but wanted to do it for a cause. Elizabeth contacted Defend Dignity to see if she could do the swim as a fundraiser for us!
The swim will be 20km in length and will start in Sturgeon Bay, NY, USA and finish at Crystal Beach, Ontario Canada. The swim will take place on a day between the dates of August 23-25 due to possible weather conditions. She will swim on the day that appears to have the best weather.
Elizabeth is training several hours a week and increasing her distance each session. She is also training to prepare for drag, water temperature and the course nutrition.
Hoping you will support her by donating to Defend Dignity. Together we can stop sexual exploitation in Canada!