Michele Daschbach Fast was an American swimmer who grew up in Atherton, California and was the youngest of six children. The University of California Santa Barbara graduate met her husband Patrick in college and later moved to Seal Beach where they raised their three children: Patrick, Laura, and Lisa.
She swam every morning in Seal Beach, touching everyone she met in and out of the water with her smile, sense of humor, compassion and selfless perspective of life.
One day, she went to the Salon Meritage beauty salon and was shot by a mass murderer who also killed the seven other victims in the shooting.
At the age of 47, her life was tragically cut short. Her husband of 16 years, 2 children in college, another child in high school, 5 brothers and sister as well as both her parents, her father-in-law, 7 brothers- and sisters-in law, 15 nieces and nephews, 2 great nieces, and her many swimming friends were left with a huge hole in their hearts.
Her brother Rooney Daschbach has been hosting the Michele Daschbach Fast Memorial Ocean Swim for the past 12 years in either Sunset Beach or Seal Beach. The charity swim has benefitted the Wounded Warrior Project, SmileTrain, and the Seal Beach Animal Shelter.
© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“