I have been a member of the Slowtwitch community since 2004. I have never really asked for any participation in something like this, but now I am.
On March 10, 2014 my friend Zac Cain died of colon cancer. He was 19 years old. He was diagnosed when he was 17 years old and a senior in high school. I knew him since he was 9 years old.
The reason I am posting this here is because Zac was a swimmer. He started swimming with our local age group team that my boys were on (one was a year older than Zac and one was a year younger than Zac). Initially, Zac was cut from the swim team (in fact, he is the ONLY kid in the history of the team to ever get cut!). But he was told that if he took a stroke development course in the spring, he would automatically be on the team in the Fall. Anyhow, that is what Zac did. The funny thing is that the coach wanted to cut him in the Fall as well.
Throughout the year, Zac got faster and faster. And by the end of the season he owned the 100 yard freestyle team record for 9-10 y/o. By the time Zac was 14, he had every record on the board except for the breaststroke. The Men's Varsity Swim Team is a Division 1 school in Michigan, and Zac qualified in 3 events for States his freshman year. In his Sophomore and Junior year he was All-State in the 100yd Backstroke and 500yd Freestyle, as well as being a part of All-State 200 yd Freestyle and 200 yd Medley relay teams.
Zac's dream was to be number 1 in the state in both the backstroke and the 500 free. He decided the best way for him to do this was to swim year-round with Club Wolverine in Ann Arbor. That is kind of a big commitment since Ann Arbor is about a 45 minute drive from where we live. But all spring, summer, and fall he drove to Ann Arbor for 2-a-days 5 days a week. It paid off. By the time Varsity Season came around, he was dialed in. Literally every single meet, pool records were shattered. Before the season was even half way through, Zac had qualified for states in every individual event (except breaststroke). Zac was on pace to achieve his goal. He was recruited to swim with University of Michigan, Michigan State, and the University of Wisconsin.
3 weeks before the Division finals, Zac was taken to the hospital with extreme abdominal pain. He was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. The prognosis was not good. He had the tumors removed, but there was some questions whether or not it had spread. Zac's parents (very close friends of ours) were very concerned, but in a typical Zac response he looked at them and said, "Don't worry, I got this." A quick note, at the State Finals, Zac's state qualifying times would have placed him #1 in the state in backstroke and #2 in the 500 Free.
6 months later Zac was cancer-free. He even started to swim again in the hopes of still swimming in college. He started helping the swim team as an assistant coach. Unfortunately, by February of 2013 (2 days from his original diagnosis) the cancer came back. This time it was even more aggressive. They had to remove 60% of his colon this time and give him a colostomy bag. The doctors basically told him that this kind of cancer was so aggressive that there was not much hope except for some experimental therapies. Which is the route that Zac chose.
I can't get into all of what the therapies were, I only know that he had some kind of a designer chemo in Ann Arbor every 2 weeks, and on the opposite weeks he had to go to Grand Rapids for some kind of supplementation that restored the stuff that the chemo killed. Whatever it was, Zac beat the odds and was shown to be cancer free again by August. This time there would be no dreams of a swimming comeback.
Zac started coaching again. But by Christmas of 2013 Zac started hurting again. Zac's third battle with colon cancer would prove to be his last.
I learned a lot about character watching this kid endure his multiples battles with cancer. This kid was a fighter and he knew how to embrace pain, as a swimmer and as a cancer warrior. I would like to share a quick story about the measure of Zac's character. In his second cancer bout, he was strong enough to come to the second day of the Division Championships. Zac had both the pool record and the meet record in the 500 Free (from his junior year). I was standing next to Zac when he watched a kid from another team break both of those records by .2 seconds. I looked over at Zac and saw that he was smiling. When I asked him about this, he replied, "You know, records are meant to be broken. They are the benchmark that the next swimmers try to beat. I know that kid and I know how hard he must have worked to beat that time. I'm really happy for him."
Anyhow, his parents are starting a foundation in his name to build a legacy. Swimming was so important to Zac, and naturally this is going to be the focus. Part of this foundation will be used for a scholarship for swimmers. Another part of this is going to help develop a swim camp in his name, Camp Cain. The camp will be a local summer camp where swimmer can come and build endurance, learn stroke technique, learn about good nutrition, and basic conditioning.
How can you help? Well, if you are so inclined, please follow this link: https://www.booster.com/zaccain and follow the directions. Basically, we are selling t-shirts.
I know that not everyone will purchase one, but maybe some will. If you don't feel like buying a shirt, that is OK. Maybe you can just read his story and find some kind of inspiration from it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Bernie
______________
"Slowbern has always made astute observations."-Casey 03/10/2009
2013-2014 Detroit Lions---13-3 until proved otherwise.
On March 10, 2014 my friend Zac Cain died of colon cancer. He was 19 years old. He was diagnosed when he was 17 years old and a senior in high school. I knew him since he was 9 years old.
The reason I am posting this here is because Zac was a swimmer. He started swimming with our local age group team that my boys were on (one was a year older than Zac and one was a year younger than Zac). Initially, Zac was cut from the swim team (in fact, he is the ONLY kid in the history of the team to ever get cut!). But he was told that if he took a stroke development course in the spring, he would automatically be on the team in the Fall. Anyhow, that is what Zac did. The funny thing is that the coach wanted to cut him in the Fall as well.
Throughout the year, Zac got faster and faster. And by the end of the season he owned the 100 yard freestyle team record for 9-10 y/o. By the time Zac was 14, he had every record on the board except for the breaststroke. The Men's Varsity Swim Team is a Division 1 school in Michigan, and Zac qualified in 3 events for States his freshman year. In his Sophomore and Junior year he was All-State in the 100yd Backstroke and 500yd Freestyle, as well as being a part of All-State 200 yd Freestyle and 200 yd Medley relay teams.
Zac's dream was to be number 1 in the state in both the backstroke and the 500 free. He decided the best way for him to do this was to swim year-round with Club Wolverine in Ann Arbor. That is kind of a big commitment since Ann Arbor is about a 45 minute drive from where we live. But all spring, summer, and fall he drove to Ann Arbor for 2-a-days 5 days a week. It paid off. By the time Varsity Season came around, he was dialed in. Literally every single meet, pool records were shattered. Before the season was even half way through, Zac had qualified for states in every individual event (except breaststroke). Zac was on pace to achieve his goal. He was recruited to swim with University of Michigan, Michigan State, and the University of Wisconsin.
3 weeks before the Division finals, Zac was taken to the hospital with extreme abdominal pain. He was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. The prognosis was not good. He had the tumors removed, but there was some questions whether or not it had spread. Zac's parents (very close friends of ours) were very concerned, but in a typical Zac response he looked at them and said, "Don't worry, I got this." A quick note, at the State Finals, Zac's state qualifying times would have placed him #1 in the state in backstroke and #2 in the 500 Free.
6 months later Zac was cancer-free. He even started to swim again in the hopes of still swimming in college. He started helping the swim team as an assistant coach. Unfortunately, by February of 2013 (2 days from his original diagnosis) the cancer came back. This time it was even more aggressive. They had to remove 60% of his colon this time and give him a colostomy bag. The doctors basically told him that this kind of cancer was so aggressive that there was not much hope except for some experimental therapies. Which is the route that Zac chose.
I can't get into all of what the therapies were, I only know that he had some kind of a designer chemo in Ann Arbor every 2 weeks, and on the opposite weeks he had to go to Grand Rapids for some kind of supplementation that restored the stuff that the chemo killed. Whatever it was, Zac beat the odds and was shown to be cancer free again by August. This time there would be no dreams of a swimming comeback.
Zac started coaching again. But by Christmas of 2013 Zac started hurting again. Zac's third battle with colon cancer would prove to be his last.
I learned a lot about character watching this kid endure his multiples battles with cancer. This kid was a fighter and he knew how to embrace pain, as a swimmer and as a cancer warrior. I would like to share a quick story about the measure of Zac's character. In his second cancer bout, he was strong enough to come to the second day of the Division Championships. Zac had both the pool record and the meet record in the 500 Free (from his junior year). I was standing next to Zac when he watched a kid from another team break both of those records by .2 seconds. I looked over at Zac and saw that he was smiling. When I asked him about this, he replied, "You know, records are meant to be broken. They are the benchmark that the next swimmers try to beat. I know that kid and I know how hard he must have worked to beat that time. I'm really happy for him."
Anyhow, his parents are starting a foundation in his name to build a legacy. Swimming was so important to Zac, and naturally this is going to be the focus. Part of this foundation will be used for a scholarship for swimmers. Another part of this is going to help develop a swim camp in his name, Camp Cain. The camp will be a local summer camp where swimmer can come and build endurance, learn stroke technique, learn about good nutrition, and basic conditioning.
How can you help? Well, if you are so inclined, please follow this link: https://www.booster.com/zaccain and follow the directions. Basically, we are selling t-shirts.
I know that not everyone will purchase one, but maybe some will. If you don't feel like buying a shirt, that is OK. Maybe you can just read his story and find some kind of inspiration from it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Bernie
______________
"Slowbern has always made astute observations."-Casey 03/10/2009
2013-2014 Detroit Lions---13-3 until proved otherwise.