Reaching out. That’s what we’re doing: Reaching out to one city, one group, one school, one life. And that one life is going to make a difference because that is what we’re giving back to our community and our planet. We have reached out to dozens of schools.

Collin Hart (my teammate) and I went to Orange County, CA with our coach Joe Zemaitis to speak at the National Drowning Prevention Symposium.  We had SOO much fun!  I got to meet the president of the Swim for Life Foundation, Johnny Johnson.  He was really nice and I was really glad I got to meet him.  I also got to hear Janet Evans give the Keynote speech.  We invited her to watch us speak but she was already busy.

I was nervous  before I spoke but then once I started talking I relaxed.  It’s a good feeling.  You know, to be relaxed when just a moment before you were tight?  The people there were super nice and treated me as an adult.  I met so many nice people.  The Orange County Fire Department was there and they were very nice too.  A lot of people watched my speech and congratulated me at the end.

Kristin Goffman, Administrator & Founding Board Member of the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, sent a very nice thank you letter.  It was really nice to read the feedback that was submitted by the people that attended my presentation.  Here are a few of my favorites:

“Wonderful!”, “There needs to be more like you”, “Great Session.  Very inspiring!”, “…Kids were charming and a refreshing change in conference presenters.”, “I’m really impressed that these two individuals can get out to communities and help in a way that adults can’t…My hat’s off to both Colin and Emma.”

When I was in Jamaica I talked about Water Safety at a local school.  Their local news paper The Jamaica Gleaner News covered the story.  Here’s a part of it:

“Young Emma, an advocate of safe swimming and a member of the non-profit organisation Foundation for Aquatic Safety and Training (FAST) spent the last week in Jamaica basking in the island’s rich history and culture and the beauty of the family-oriented Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort, in Ocho Rios.

But before she arrived here, Emma was one of the main attractions on the United States television programme, The Ellen Degeneres Show. Young Miss Schlenker was also busy helping to raise US$100,000 to pay for swimming lessons for children and Cardio-Pulmonary-Resuscitation (CPR) training for families living in Phoenix, Arizona.”

The Ellen Degeneres Show called my dad as we were walking through the San Francisco airport heading home after the Alcatraz swim.  Jay Leno’s people called too, but we really liked Ellen and so we planned a trip to be on her show.

It was SO much fun.  The green room was cool and I met the guys from Bon Jovi who were in the room down the hall.

Ellen had hurt her back and so I got to sit in a hospital bed to talk with her.  I don’t think she was feeling very well, but she was VERY funny and really nice.  She congratulated me on my swim and then gave me a family trip to Jamaica.  More on that later…