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For Immediate Release
Contact: Meg Davis
858-220-9024
Megdavis00@yahoo.com
Hertz Battles Asthma and Chesapeake To Win CEEF Scholarship
Graduate Student Undaunted by Life With Asthma and Chesapeake Bay’s Legendary Tides, Wins Educational Non-Profit’s 10th Scholarship Award
Annapolis, Md. – June 8, 2008 – The Cynthia Earley Educational Foundation, the recognized scholarship organization of the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim (GCBS) announces Lisa Hertz of Ocean Pines, Md. the 2008 scholarship winner.
Hertz raised a total of $1,549.30 to benefit the March of Dimes, The Great Chesapeake Trust and other recipient charities for this year’s event that took place on Sunday June 8 in Annapolis, Md. She edged out last year’s scholarship winner, Erin Luley, by less than $50.
This is the first GCBS for the 22-year old who finished 177th out of over 600 entries. Her time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 31 seconds placed her third overall in her age group (females 20-24) and 50th out of nearly 200 female competitors. “I was nervous about the start with hundreds of other people, so I started sprinting to avoid the incoming tide and people jam,” said Hertz about the start of the race. She also recalled the humbling experience of swimming beneath two 190-foot tall bridge spans and how small they made her feel. The GCBS is a rigorous 4.4-mile swim that attracts competitors from all over the world in a test of will and determination, as well as strength. The scholarship winner is unknown until the day of the event, as sponsorships from the student athletes are received by March of Dimes volunteers right up to the start of the swim.
Hertz’s inspiration for the GCBS and the Cynthia Earley Scholarship Award can be traced back to a drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge when she was a young girl. “I imagined I could swim across it,” she recalls thinking all those years ago as she looked down upon the choppy waters from her family’s car.
Hertz credits a key group of family, friend, and professionals who prepared her for the long swim and fundraising efforts in the community. “My masters swim coach Steve Hicks and the Delmarva Dogfish teammates were essential in motivating me,”she said. Ms. Betty Mullen Brey who competed in the freestyle event at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics was a financial sponsor and life long swimming mentor throughout different phases of Hertz’s life. Special support for Hertz as an athlete with asthma came from the former President of the USA Swimming Network Task Force and master swimmer, Dr. Jim Miller, who has been adjusting her swimming stroke and healthcare for the demands of competitive swimming.
After qualifying for the event and scholarship, Hertz faced a schedule that would overwhelm many her age as she continued her battle with asthma, attended graduate school, worked, trained for the swim, and raised money for the $1,000 scholarship.
But challenge is nothing new to Hertz. Being diagnosed with asthma, as a child never diminished her love of the water. Not even in her freshman year when her illness was so severe, she was hospitalized and placed in intensive care. Instead, she persevered and became a four-year student athlete, while attending Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., and finished her college career winning 10 conference titles in swimming. She also graduated with a double major in history and classics. Hertz is now earning her Master of Arts Degree in teaching at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Md. She would like to teach middle school history.
Hertz has built a Web site that not only documents her training, but also exemplifies her desire to help others. She believes, “If you are trying to do something really big, you do it for something other than yourself”.
The Cynthia Earley Educational Foundation is proud to count Hertz as one of its many scholarship winners. It celebrates the student athlete in the community and recognizes the tremendous personal achievement of young people making their way through school and life.
About The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim:
Founded on June 13, 1982 by then Towson University student athlete, Brian Joseph Earley, as a tribute to his father who suffered from diabetes, The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim is a Maryland tradition and one of the most sought after open water swims in the United States. Under the leadership of Charles Nabit, Race Director since 1992, the event has raised over $1.5 million for the Maryland Chapter of the March of Dimes and other GCBS charities. In addition to raising money, it raises public awareness of the charitable causes, which it supports, and instills tremendous feelings of empowerment among participants. For many, the swim is a life–changing experience. The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim is truly in a class by itself. For more information, please see www.bayswim.com.
News Coverage from June 8, 2008
CBS Television - GCBS Video
About The Cynthia Earley Educational Foundation:
The Cynthia Earley Educational Foundation was founded in 1998 as an annual scholarship of at least $1,000 for the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim. It has given out over $12,500 in scholarships to student athletes who participate in the event that presents the highest amount of sponsorships (funds) to the GCBS charities. Student athletes between the ages of 15 to 22, who enter into and compete at the GCBS event are eligible for the scholarship. The average student winner of the scholarship contributes nearly three times the amount of the normal entry fee ($250) for the benefit of GCBS Charities. The foundation provides tuition assistance payable to the winner’s current school, college, university, or vocational school of their choice. For more information on the foundation and past winners, please see www.ceef1.org
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The Cynthia Earley Educational Foundation is a California 501 C-3 non-profit
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