Because of Michele Daschbach Fast’s life many children will be able to smile.
On Saturday, Aug. 10, about 105 people, about 20 of which were paddlers and kayakers, participated in the Second Annual Michele Daschbach Fast Memorial Swim from Sunset Beach to Seal Beach.
“We raised $3,240 for Smile Train,” said Fast’s brother Rooney Daschbach of Sunset Beach, who organized the swim with his siblings and ran it for the second year in a row.
The event in honor of the 47-year-old mother of three who died along with seven others in the tragic shooting in Seal Beach in 2011 raises money for Smile Train, a charity that raises money for correc
tive surgery for children born with cleft lip and palate.
The swim started when the swimmers entered the water at the beach behind Rooney Daschbach’s home. It drew some impressive swimming competitors, including the USA Women’s National Water Polo team.
“They train at the Los Alamitos base and their coach saw the story in the Sun and contacted me to see if the 17 girls on the team could join us for the swim,” Rooney Daschbach said.
Also making the swim was four-time Olympian in water polo Ryan Bailey. First out of the water at Seal Beach was Lexie Kelly, the world-renowned open water ambassador and swimmer from Belmont Shore. Rebecca Soni, who has three gold medals and three silver medals for the US Olympic team, followed Kelly on to the beach.
Between 9:30 and 10 a.m., as the swimmers and paddlers made their way on to the beach, the Daschbach siblings: Rooney Daschbach, LeeLee Cusenza, Lisa Fuerst, Laura Pitchford, and Mark Daschbach helped keep a head count of the swimmers and paddlers and greeted the swimmers who helped honor their youngest sister of six children. After the swim they headed back to Rooney’s home in Sunset Beach for “fun, food, beverages and celebration of Michele’s life,” he said.
Michele was an avid, daily swimmer who was often the first person to enter the McGaugh Elementary School pool in the mornings for a workout. An accomplished open water swimmer who has made the crossing to Catalina, her brother Rooney decided a memorial swim was a fitting way to honor his sister. Raising money with the swim for Smile Train adds focus and purpose to the event.
Michele is survived by her husband Patrick Fast, who paddled in the swim, and her three children, son Patrick, 21, and daughters Lisa, 16 and Laura, 18.
Michele’s youngest daughter, Lisa, was born with a cleft lip and palate. With the support of her family and access to a “great doctor,” Lisa was fortunate enough to successfully repair the condition. She dedicated herself to raising money on behalf of those who are unable to afford the treatment to repair their cleft palate, by collecting and recycling plastic bottles after her soccer games and from friends’ homes.
According to the Smile Train website, the 16-year-old has raised almost $10,000 for the charity to date. It says that “every single child with a cleft can be helped with surgery that costs as little as $250 and takes as little as 45 minutes.”
Smile Train is dedicated to provide free cleft surgery for millions of poor children in developing countries and free cleft-related training for doctors and medical professionals until there are no more children who need help and we have completely eradicated the problem of clefts.
To donate to Smile Train the web link is: support.smiletrain.org/goto/micheledaschbachfast.
