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Big Smiles, kids win

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Staff

By Brooke Parker
Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL – Laughter and cheers filled the air as more than 800 children crossed the finish line to receive medals and prizes in the Swim for Smiles Foundation’s triathlon at Chapel Hill Country Club on Saturday.

Swim for Smiles – the largest youth triathlon in the country – raises money for the N.C. Children’s Hospital.

“We were extremely excited about the growth in our triathlon this year,” said founder Gary Kayye. This year marked Swim for Smiles’ largest participation to date.

Kayye and Laura Gondek established the Swim for Smiles Foundation in 2005 with a mission of “kids helping kids” through special multi-sport events such as triathlons and swim-a-thons. The foundation is dedicated to creating and carrying out events that are fun for kids while raising money for N.C. Children’s Hospital.

The first Swim for Smiles, in 2005, was originally a dual swim meet featuring a team from Chapel Hill Summer Swim League and another from Durham Summer Swim League that raised money for the N.C. and Duke children’s hospitals. The event has since transformed into the country’s largest annual youth triathlon.

This year, the race weekend started with a party Friday featuring a speech by CBS Survivor contestant Kelly Bruno, the honorary starter of the race, who is a leg-amputee.

The two-day event for youth ages 5-19 was divided into two distances to allow for a maximum number of participants, with the short-distance race held Saturday and the long-distance race on Sunday. The foundation offered scholarships to more than 40 children to participate in the race. The Swim for Smiles organizers say they hope the kids will fall in love with triathlons, the largest growing sport in the world.

Overall winners Alex Werden, 17, and Rebekah Greengrass, 14, were granted free entry into the famous Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco next month.

At the finish line was a festival featuring free food, hydration and entertainment. Racer Jack White, 6, was thrilled, as he finished the race, to find three bounce houses, a bull-riding machine, rock-climbing wall, magician, face painters and balloon-animal artists.

Kayye said he hopes to expand the Swim for Smiles Foundation outside of North Carolina, forming regional branches across the country. The foundation still plans to be strictly voluntary and “kids helping kids,” all over the U.S., Kayye said.

“Every year, our goal is to increase the amount of money we donate to the Children’s Hospital by maintaining a safe race where children want to come, and tell their friends about coming.”

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