swimTonyswim

Tony has this outrageous dream of crossing Auckland Harbour by water, with no boat. He has watched people swimming across the harbour as an annual event and thought he would never do that: he was never good at swimming. 2 years ago he couldn't even make 1 length of the pool. Plus he has a phobia of the deep water. Doing the harbour swim was just an elusive fantasy.

In 2014 a foot injury meant he needed to find a different way of keeping fit. His regular medium distance runs were out! Swimming was the obvious choice. Help with getting in the pool, the deep end of the pool came when former Olympian and world number one swimmer Paul Kent taught him the basics of swimming and fixed his pool phobia. Since then, Tony has been swim training in the pool and open water three times a week with the goal of crossing the harbour in 2016. That time has come!

Among the things that Tony does (as a psychiatrist, sleep specialist, cellist, academic researcher, meditation teacher), is being the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Amitabha Hospice. In the last Board of Trustees meeting, the usual issue of how to raise funds to maintain the services and the buildings of the hospice was hot topic.

Volunteers need petrol vouchers to visit their patients scattered all over Auckland. The meeting hall where patients receive day care has water seepage. The driveway is in disrepair. The grass needs regular mowing but funds are limited. Even though the hospice provides invaluable free care to many patients, it does not receive any government funding and purely relies on private donations and grants.

It was in the last Board of Trustees meeting that Tony realised that he could combine this personal challenge with this funding challenge and he “offered his body” to raise funds for the hospice.

You can help motivate Tony to swim and support Amitabha by sponsoring his swim. $45 will mow our lawns, $50 will buy 5 petrol vouchers for our volunteers, $100 will promote Amitabha so we keep getting volunteers to support those amongst us who need our help.

He will attempt to cross the harbour from Herne Bay to Chelsea Sugar Refinery, a 2.4 kilometre swim, by joining the annual Chelsea Swim on the 21st of February 2016.

Help Tony raise funds for Amitabha Hospice (http://www.amitabhahospice.org/) by sponsoring his dad bod in the annual Chelsea Swim.