Scott Rees lost his eyesight due to retinitis pigmentose. But his life changed for the better when he received a guide Labrador Retriever named Kaleb from the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind charity.
Suddenly, together with Kaleb, Rees can now walk down the street at a normal speed without fear of running into cars, people, or objects.
That was two years ago.
“It restored a lot of my independent mobility that I had lost,” said Rees to the CBC.
Rees wanted to give back, a common trait among open water swimmers.
So he trained hard and planned on a 28.6 km crossing of the Strait of Georgia in Vancouver, Canada along the established course from Nanaimo in Davis Bay to Sechelt. Kaleb [see below], of course, took him down to the lakeside on all of training sessions.
Guided by Joost Van Woerden as his escort kayaker and greeted by his father in the water and family onshore, Rees finished in 11 hours on July 24th “I don’t know what my kids look like, and my wife, I haven’t been able to see her face for the last few years,” Rees said.
His goal was to raise $30,000 – but he blew that goal away and has raised over $156,650 to date.
To donate to the charitable cause, make a donation at Swimthestrait.ca.
For more information about Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind, visit here.
Video of Rees training and swimming is here.
Historical Georgia Strait Crossings (from Nanaimo to Sechelt)
- 1967: Mike Powley in 9 hours 23 minutes
- 1967: Ernie Yacob in 11 hours 13 minutes
- 1972: Fran Caldwell in 15 hours 7 minutes
- 1978: John McDermott in 14 hours 10 minutes
- 1994: Shane Collins in 10 hours 50 minutes
- 1995: Debbie Collins in 13 hours 53 minutes
- 1998: Shane Collins in 9 hours 55 minutes
- 2010: James Monk in 9 hours 35 minutes
- 2010: Rod Craig in 9 hours 50 minutes
- 2012: Will Rogers via his Million Dollar Journey in 8 hours 50 minutes (wetsuit)
- 2014: Rachel Schoeler in 11 hours 55 minutes
- 2016: Jessi Harewicz in 11 hours 20 minutes
- 2019: Jessi Harewicz from Nanaimo to Kitsilano Beach, Vancouver in 30 hours 13 minutes
- 2023: Scott Rees in 11 hours (wetsuit)
For additional details on the Strait of Gibraltar crossings, visit the longswimsDB here.
© 2023 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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