June 1, 2009 – News & Views

OWU varsity swimmers Usman Javaid ’10 and David Gatz ’10 display ‘frozen’ smiles as they warm up with a beverage while training for their English Channel swim in Alum Creek.

Photo courtesy of David Gatz

A Plunge for Peace
OWU students’ English Channel swim shows the power of friendship

Ohio Wesleyan University student David Gatz recalls experiencing “convulsing shivers” for 20 minutes after completing an hour-long swim in Alum Creek. The water temperature on that April afternoon was a frigid 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

So why did this intelligent OWU senior—a double major in biochemistry and pre-professional medicine—go jump in the lake? His answer is as simple as it is powerful: Friendship.

Gatz and fellow OWU senior Usman Javaid are training to swim the English Channel to set an example for the world about the power of friendship. Gatz is from Delaware, Ohio, and Javaid is from Lahore, Pakistan—a city now under siege by Taliban-claimed attacks that have killed or wounded hundreds.

These young men want the world to see that friendship crosses the boundaries of nationality, politics, culture, and religion. To make their venture even more meaningful, they are using their English Channel swim to help raise funds for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international medical humanitarian organization. All monies raised will support relief efforts in Pakistan.

“It is our sincere hope that our efforts will raise awareness of the need for international friendship and cooperation in addressing many of the world’s challenges,” Gatz and Javaid say on their Web site, www.channelingpeace.org. “It can be a challenge within our daily lives to reach out and befriend someone of another culture, but these are the steps that bring about a unified world.”

Gatz says he and Javaid, both OWU varsity swim team members, chose to swim the English Channel because it represents the “Mount Everest of swimming challenges” and is a physically and mentally demanding feat that “only the best of friends would be willing to undertake together.”

In addition to training in icy Alum Creek, the students have been showering in colder water and sleeping without covers to attempt to acclimate their bodies for the grueling 12-hour to 14-hour relay swim. Even though it’s summer, the Channel will be only 60 degrees to 65 degrees when they take the plunge.

Besides the strength-sapping cold, the swimmers also will have to contend with 3-foot to 5-foot waves. “There’s no way to simulate waves in Alum Creek,” Gatz says.

In order for their Channel swim to be official, Gatz and Javaid are permitted only to wear Speedos, swim caps, and goggles—no body-protecting thermal swimwear is permitted. The harsh requirement is in recognition of the environment faced by Matthew Webb, who in 1875 became the first person known to have swum the challenging Channel successfully.

Among those accompanying Javaid and Gatz to Europe will be Ohio Wesleyan varsity swim coach Richard Hawes, who helped to devise training regimens for the pair, and university Chaplain Jon Powers, who is helping them to reach out to government leaders and faith-based organizations to support their international fund-raising and friend-raising venture.

Powers says the men’s efforts are inspiring. “Usman and David provide a tangible example of the power of friendship and cooperation in changing the world,” the chaplain says. … “They remind us of what is possible when we make sacrifices and work together.”

To learn more about Gatz and Javaid’s “Channeling Peace Initiative,” including how to support their undertaking, visit www.channelingpeace.org.

– Cole Hatcher