Swimmer with Down syndrome to cross Tahoe
September 23rd, 2007From the Reno Gazette-Journal:
Oregon’s Karen Gaffney, a woman with Down syndrome who has swum the San Francisco Bay seven times, will commence her swim across Lake Tahoe Tuesday morning. The NBC ‘Today” show is expected to cover the event live.
Gaffney, an accomplished athlete who swam the English Channel with a relay team in 2001, is attempting a 12-mile course in water that is expected to be about 65 degrees. She is swimming to raise awareness about Down syndrome and to garner funds for the National Down Syndrome Congress.
[Gaffney] represents the generation of people born with the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome who attended regular schools and weren’t limited by what doctors once told parents about institutionalizing children such as Gaffney.
Since graduating from Portland State University, she tours and speaks on behalf of the disabled through a foundation she helped start at Portland State — the Karen Gaffney Foundation.
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September 25th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
I would love to know how Ms. Gaffney did. If you could get back to me on her results I would greatly appreciate it! She is an inspiration and I love that she has such a strong passion for raising awareness.
-Amber McMeans