Daniel Watters, former Olympic contestant, is now part of a team swimming to raise money for cancer research Photo by Can Türkyilmaz
Neighbor Daniel Watters was one of the youngest swimmers to compete in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, when he was a junior in high school. Now he is part of a team swimming to raise money for cancer research. Watters and five other former Olympians are leading the local Swim Across America, an open-water swim event June 9 at Lake Ray Hubbard. Watters’ Seoul teammate, Janel Jorgensen, is executive director of Swim Across America, which organizes swims in several U.S. cities. She invited him to an event in San Francisco in 2008. “I really fell in love with the cause,” Watters says. Swim Across America allows organizers to choose a local beneficiary, in this case, the Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center. “We are funding phase-one clinical trials for people who have effectively run out of options for their cancer treatment,” he says. “It’s important for the body of work for cancer research, but also for people here who are likely to be treated at Baylor.” The Olympians also teach a swimming and stroke clinic to kids and anyone who wants to improve, on June 8. The oldest swimmer last year was 81, Watters says, and it’s open to swimmers 11 and older. Tribute teams honor friends or family members fighting cancer, and many employees from Baylor participate, including cancer center director Dr. Alan Miller. Watters, who lives on Swiss Avenue, is a management consultant. He and his family moved to Dallas in 1999, and they’ve lived in our neighborhood since then. Watters is not the only Swim Across America Olympian living in our neighborhood. Ryan Berube, a gold medalist in the 800-meter relay in Atlanta ’96, and Steve Barnicoat, a competitor in the 200-meter backstroke in Moscow ’80, also live here.
To learn more visit swimacrossamerica.org
