CLEAN International is celebrating our Worldwide Walk for Water this March and thousands have joined us. This year, we invited our participants to “Make a Move for Water”, letting them decide on their activity (activities) to gain miles throughout the month. One participant took this to a whole new level and created his very own swim-a-thon. 

Douglas Holmes, an 85 year old swim master used his passion for swimming to make a global difference this year. Doug has trained and swam competitively in Masters, YMCA, and Senior Olympics for over 60 years. During his swimming career, he has broken many records and continues to exceed expectations. Doug continues to race and participate in other events. He kicked off the year with an 130 yard swim for the “Ice Man Dip & Dash” in the Tchefuncte River.  Doug also inspired his granddaughter, Grace, to swim when she was growing up and he always came to visit Colorado to watch her swim meets. Her love for water and the environment led her to become a full-time employee with CLEAN International and she couldn’t be more proud of her grandpa! Pictured below: Doug on the beach (left) and with his granddaughter when she was little (right). 

This March, Doug swam at his favorite gym (Franco’s Health Club & Spa) in Mandeville, Louisiana. Before his swim-a-thon, he reached out to family, friends, and his church to find people to pledge donations for his miles. He was able to get over 80 pledges for his swim-a-thon and fundraised to provide clean water to people around the world. We want to thank Doug for all of his hard work. We are so lucky to have such passionate participants and we can’t wait to see what you do next year! 

We hope that Doug’s story inspires you to create your own event or activity this month or next year (March, 2023). Each person that “Makes a Move for Water” helps increase awareness and funds to directly address access to clean water, in turn reaching even more people in need worldwide. We believe that everyone, everywhere, deserves access to clean water and Doug’s swimming has brought us one step closer to this goal. 

Tell us your inspiration, story, and what you did during the Worldwide Walk for Water! We’d love to hear from you at engage@cleaninternational.org