Courtesy of Scott Zornig, Laguna Beach, California in the Pacific Ocean.
“Like one week, I am wolfing down a breakfast burrito after a 3-mile swim, and a few weeks later, my big accomplishment is not barfing up a hard boiled egg. What is going on,” wonders Lynn Kubasek who is fighting stage 2 pancreatic cancer.
“Getting through a day is a challenge right now.”
On September 29th, the marathon swimmer, artist and mother from Laguna Beach, California was diagnosed with cancer. Her diagnoses came less than 3 weeks after she swam 45.9 km in the 20 Bridges Manhattan Swim in 8 hours 22 minutes and one week after completing a 74.7 km Catalina Island circumnavigation relay in 31 hours 53 minutes together with Gary Workman, Forrest Nelson, Tom Hecker, Kris Berglund, and Sabrina Young (ATI Team 1).
Fellow board of director for the Santa Barbara Channel Swimming Association Scott Zornig says, “Although pancreatic cancer is a complex disease with a challenging prognosis, Lynn is a fighter who is facing her illness with the same vigor and intensity she uses in completing her marathon swims.
Although Lynn has medical insurance, she is in considerable pain and has already taken several days off of work for treatment.”
“She has always been there for others,” said Steven Munatones. “Always with a smile, a laugh, a hug and valuable encouragement, she is very frequently offering to mentor, help and observe for channel swimmers and marathon swimmers as well as others who simply want to swim with the Oak Streeters along the Laguna Beach coastline or try to swim a pier-to-pier swim – or something more daunting like the Fear No Pier swim.”
Zornig agrees – as does everyone else who has had the good fortunate to meet Kubasek, “Lynn is a kind, wonderful person with an infectious smile. She is ALWAYS the first to help others during their time of need.”
Friend Cherié Edborg wrote a thought that is common among Kubasek’s network of swimmers, “I just hung a gift of inspiration for my Catalina Channel crossing training from Lynn – who since I met her has inspired me and makes me smile. I will look at this [gift] everyday multiple times a day keeping me on track and making you proud.”
Katie Rowe is a member of Kubasek’s extended swimming family. “Swimming IS a family: a great big family of people who we may never meet, but all share that same bond of struggle and failure and success and exhaustion and exhilaration. We all speak the same language underwater and to ourselves because we can’t talk while we swim.”
Zornig has put together a GoFundMe page to enable friends help Kubasek while she focuses on her own battle and challenges. “A donation of any amount would go a long way towards helping Lynn enter the dark water, swim across the channel, walk onto the sand, and claim victory as she defeats this terrible disease.
100% of the donations received will be used to offset medical deductibles, alternative treatments, work disability, travel expenses, and basic living necessities for this amazing athlete, loving mother and tender-hearted person.”
To send a message and donate to her GoFundMe campaign, visit here.
Kubasek was nominated for the 2013 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year. Her nomination was as follows, “There is not a day that goes by without her cheering on or offering to swim with others. Her swimming friends come from all over the world. When not in the water, Lynn Kubasek is creating YouTube clips and online supporting swimmers day in and day out.
She willingly and happily jumps on escort boats, prepares drinks, and offers to observe or crew on a moment’s notice or months in advance. Ocean water is seemingly in her blood; she wears lanolin as often than make-up; and marine life are her cherished friends. Always willing to help out, she has a permanent smile on her face in and out of the water. For her deep love of the ocean, for her profound sense of appreciation of the sport, for her overwhelming and all-encompassing sense of voluntarism, Lynn Kubasek is a worthy nominee for the 2013 World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year.”
Kubasek was also known to warn others of urban runoff and has made many dozens of YouTube videos from the channel swims which she participated as a support member or observer:
A brief synopsis of Kubasek’s open water swimming career is posted here.
To send a message and donate to her GoFundMe campaign, visit here.
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