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Swimmers are lined up, ready to take their mark. On one side of the pool, their team is cheering like crazy, urging and willing them to go faster. On the other side, their opponent is attempting to shout over them, screaming at the top of the lungs to connect to their swimmers. This is a Saturday morning in the Montgomery County Swim League, and that means no holding back.
But a week prior to the start of this year’s season, the cheering was quieted, the trash talking halted and the swimming set aside for a solitary Sunday in early June. MCSL teams put aside their differences to participate in the “Wash for Josh and Geoff”, a car wash fundraiser to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Schafer family, two causes that the league and community has rallied behind.
At the center of the fundraising efforts is thirteen year-old Josh Bluestein, a member of the Manchester Farm swim team since he was eight, and Country Glen head coach Geoff Schafer, an unlikely pair, linked by unfortunate circumstances and the love of their two pools and the entire MCSL community.
Although their cases could not be more different, they could also not be more similar. Bluestein is in the midst of a three-year battle with cancer. Coach Schafer lost his wife, the mother of his two children, Denise, in May. Both have been members of their respective MCSL teams for at least five years; and both wear their hearts out on their sleeves, a tell-tale sign of a member of the family that is the MCSL.
For Josh
The “Wash” fundraiser was started in 2012 when Bluestein was first diagnosed with Leukemia. At the time of the first fundraiser, Josh was relegated to a hospital bed, far away from the swimming pool; his family, forced to commute between their home in Germantown and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
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In its first year, the fundraiser presented the community with unexpected success, raising $2,000 for the Bluestein family. It was then, after seeing the community come together to support a worthy cause, that they decided to make the car wash an annual affair. The second year raised just over $1,000. The money was donated to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
“We just wanted to do everything we could to help out his family,” said Manchester Farm’s head coach Shannon English. “And we will continue to hold the [car] wash every year in his honor, regardless of his condition. If he does not need our help, we will find someone who does or donate it to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.”
Although it has been years since Josh has been able to participate in team activities, Josh has remained close with his teammates. He has stayed especially close with Zach Goldman, his best friend, whom Josh first met at Manchester Farms as a 10 and under.
“Zach and Josh have the best friendship, and have remained joined at the hip throughout all of this,” English said.
It was not until Goldman refused to leave the water one day, swimming for over two hours despite consistent reminders from coaches that he could stop at any time, that English first realized the true extent of their friendship. After the other swimmers had exited the water, Goldman remained in the pool, determined to keep swimming for his friend.
Josh is back in the hospital, fighting an infection that is causing his liver and kidney to fail. He has been in and out of consciousness for the past three months. Last week, however, he woke up and the doctors are expecting him to recover.
A family affair
In May, when Coach Schafer, a Whitman teacher, should have been focused on the end of the school year and the upcoming MCSL season, he was instead hit with the tragic news that his wife, Denise, had passed. Just four days after Denise developed flu-like symptoms, a undiagnosed blood disorder took her life at 38 years old.
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Denise was originally a math teacher, before becoming a guidance counselor at Magruder high school, giving her the much-desired time to be an active member of her family and friends lives. When not working, she was a fixture on the pool deck with her two young daughters and an avid athlete. She competed in running races and was a softball coach for seven years, before becoming coach of her daughters tee ball team.
It was English’s son that brought up the idea to spread it across the league and help out another swim family in need. When preparing for this years event, he heard about Denise’s passing and wanted to help. His mother then sent out emails across the league, and a new pact was formed.
The Country Glen community jumped at the chance to show their support for their beloved coach and his family.
“Denise and Geoff inspired me to become a teacher, but more importantly, an outstanding member of society,” said Drew Fisher, a Country Glen assistant coach . “If I could be half as loved in our community as these two are, I’d be a very happy man.”
“For Geoff, the greatest gift in this unfortunate tragedy is not the money, but the amount of support that has come from so many groups and communities,” Fisher said.
Other teams and organizations have since pitched in to help.
“Right now we are making a small difference, but with the help of the whole league we want and know that we can make a big difference,” English said.