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Missing her 'Opa,' this Port Coquitlam girl will swim her heart out to raise funds for cancer research

James Park Elementary School student hopes to raise more than $1,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation.
Diane Strandberg
Diane Strandberg
emma-feichtinger-gets-ready-to-swim-in-port-coquitlam
Emma Feichtinger will swim dozens of laps to raise funds for cancer research in honour of her 'Opa,' who passed away.Submitted

A nine-year-old girl will be doing her personal best in swimming on Tuesday, Feb. 7 to raise funds for cancer research.

Emma Feichtinger will be swimming as many lengths as possible in the pool at Port Coquitlam's Hyde Creek Recreation Centre to raise funds for the BC Cancer Foundation.

According to her mom, Sonja, the lgirl was sad to lose her "Opa" to cancer in 2021.

Raising funds by doing the activity she loves best seemed like a great idea.

"The other day she was looking at pictures of him and then said she wanted to donate all of her money to cancer research. I told her that we could probably think of a better idea to raise even more than her piggy bank money and so we came up with the idea of this swimathon."

The James Park Elementary School student has been swimming since she was two and now swims for the PoCo Marlins Swim Club.

She would like to get in as many as 30 laps in an hour before swimming lessons start.

To get the energy for the swimathon, she will eat a banana and a granola bar, her mom said.

Through social media, Emma has raised nearly $1,000 in donations, but is continuing to seek pledges.

Here's how to contribute:

  1. Pledge an amount for each length Emma swims at her swimathon on Feb. 7.
  2. Donate via Emma's Swimathon.
  3. Send cash donations.

For more information, email [email protected].