I wanted to share this email with the Dynoswim community:
Hello Dean! As promised, here are some highlights to share with you...
First of all, Jimmy is an amazing person. He glows of kindness, smiles, helpfulness, thankfulness.... He has a HUGE heart that is so rare among athletes. I felt honored to have coached him, if only briefly.
The whole international competition thing for Jimmy was truly an experience for him. Not only were there the swim team, the men's volleyball team, the track and field team and both the women's and men's basketball teams also participated from USA. The 4th Pan American Deaf Games also had soccer and bowling competition as well. The Games took place at Universidad Carabobo, Valencia, Venezuela.
Jimmy's experience in mingling with other athletes from eight other countries is something that he'll probably never forget. You have to remember that all these athletes use sign language. There were some small differences in the signs but overall, everyone signed with each other and knew what the other said. Where else can you find this spontanity and fluidity in conversing with people of different languages?
Jimmy was always smiling. Even when there were problems, he'd smile... (He even asked me if they give out Sportsmanship awards - truly he would be the person who would get it. (smiles)
He swam his Personal Best in all of the events he swam. He even swam the 100 breaststroke, which I later found out was a mistake made by the officials. They even had him entered in the 200 breaststroke! They mistakenly put him in the breaststroke events instead of the backstroke events. Situation was resolved; he swam his backstroke events! Here are his times/place:
100 breast - 1:39.08, 7th
100 free - 1:06.03, 5th
50 free - 27.48, silver medal
100 back - 1:12.92, bronze medal
200 back - 2:39.53, silver medal
They had the Opening and Closing Ceremonies beautifully done. The Venezueleans are proud people; music flowed everywhere even during the competition events they had music playing for the spectators! The Opening Ceremony boasted of several live bands, dancers in their flowing skirts and even Miss Venezuela herself sat in the presiding box. The highlight was when the torch was lit, it sent off an amazing 20 minutes of fireworks which would rival any July 4th fireworks here in USA!
Jimmy has vowed to continue swimming. Personally, I think he has a very good chance of making the 2009 Deaflympic team going to Taipei, Taiwan. He is now at Gallaudet University as a first year student who intends to swim for the Aqua Bison swim team there. He should do well and I am sure will swim during the summer months with your team.
I have attached some pictures. Do enjoy them!
Best,
Kathy Sallade, Pan Am '07 Swim Team Coach
APE/PE teacher
Varsity Swim Team coach
California School for the Deaf
Fremont, CA 94538
Note: A special thank-you to Sheryl Watkins, Scott Bay, Amy Britton, Dave Petkovsek, and Judi Rich for the combined effort in making Jimmy McGowan's Dynoswim training experience an especially successful and rewarding one - a true team effort.
I am so glad to hear that Jimmy had such a great and rewarding experience....he was actually awesome to work with this summer. His hard work and dedication this summer really paid off..He was a great role model for my JO swimmers. I am looking forward to seeing him excell at Galludet this fall.
Coach Frank Holleman
ST AUGUSTINE sWIM TEAM
Hi! I just came across this! How wonderful that you were the coach for the swim team last summer. Let's get in touch again!
Cindy Sehnert-Jones
Swim Team 1977
Hi Cindy, you can contact Coach Frank through:
http://www.eteamz.com/sastcyclones/
~Dean O.
Dearest in the Lord,
My greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, how are you and your entire ministry, I hope you are doing well. I received your contact information from a Christian website. It is true that we are just knowing each other for the first time, but I strongly believe that God has made it possible.
Please, I want you to give this message your urgent attention and get back to me so that I can give you more information on this. It is by the grace of God that I received Christ, having known the truth, I had no choice than to do what is right and just in the sight of God and man. I thank God for His Mercies, grace and glory upon my life.
Before I give you more information, let me officially introduce myself to you. My name is Mrs Vanessa Koumah, I was married to the late Mr Hector Koumah who worked with Cape Verde Embassy in Cote d'Ivoire for nine years before he died in the year 2005. We were married for Sixteen years without a child. He finally came back to Cote d'Ivoire to establish an export company after his retirement. He died after a brief illness that lasted for only four days. After his death, I could no longer manage the exporting company because of my critical health condition.
Before his death we were both born again Christians and we loved God. Since after his death I decided not to remarry or get a child outside my matrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my late husband was alive, he deposited the total sum of US$7,500,000.00 in one of the prime bank here in the country.
The reason why I contacted you is because you are a Christian (servant of God) and I want to donate the money to you because of my health condition. Recently, my Doctor told me that I would not last for the next Eight months due to cancer problem. The one that disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known my condition, I decided to donate this fund to a church, organization like yours or a Christian that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct herein. I want a church or a Christian that will use this fund for orphanages, widows, charity organizations, NGO anywhere in the World in helping human race and propagating the word of God and to endeavour that the house of God is maintained and to promote the gospel. You can also use part of it to build hospital, schools and houses to rent out to the poor and homeless people at a cheaper cost. I want you to use the money to glorify the name of God.
The Bible made us to understand that "Blessed is the hand that gives”. I took this decision because I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not Christians and I don't want my husband's efforts to be used by unbelievers and misused. This is why I am taking this decision to donate the money to you because I know that you are a Christian. I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I want you to stand as my next of kin and co-beneficiary to receive the money.
I know that I am going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that "the lord will fight my case and I shall hold my peace". I want the money to be transferred to your account as soon as possible because of my health condition.
When my late husband deposited the fund, he used my name as the next of kin. All I have to do is to sign an authorization letter in your name as my co-beneficiary and also instruct the bank to transfer the money to you.
As soon as I receive your reply, I shall give you more details on how the money will be transferred to you.
I want you to always put me in your daily prayer. My happiness is that I lived a life of a worthy Christian. I will send you more information when I receive your response. Let me hear from you urgently.
Remain blessed in the Lord.
Yours in Christ
Mrs Vanessa Koumah.
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