Becky and Steve Chepokas founded The Miracles of Mitch Foundation in honor of their son, Mitch, who lost his battle with cancer. Mitch had noticed the financial strain cancer puts on families and asked his father to “pinky promise” he would do what he can to help those in need. True to there word, Becky and Steve discovered an avenue to help. They began what has become one of the nation’s largest children’s tri-athlons. Each participant sponsors another child battling cancer to offset their financial burdens and in effect races for those who can’t.
Foss Swim School has been involved since 2004 when Tony Schiller, Advisor and lead fund raiser for Miracles of Mitch, met a few of our tri-athletes Mike Waataja and Brett Lovaas. FOSS has been volunteering at this event to naturally help with the swimming portion. Our staff has donated their time to cheer on these remarkable young athletes and provide safety during their swim and guide them out of the water. This year Jasen Lasserud helped a little girl Brooke who entered the water at the start of the race and then froze in fear. By putting Brooke on the back, she rode through the swim portion while talking about puppies and the fun summer. Other teachers began a “turbo zone!” where they helped each swimmer near the end with a little pull through the turbo zone towards the end of their swim. In true fashion FOSS helped make the event safe and fun.
Thanks to all those who attended the first of two annual events at Lake Nokomis (Lake Anne coming up in August):
Ryan Olson – Chief of the Starting Horn (aka Trigger Happy)
Erik Bloom – Chief Age Group Water Launcher
Anthony Farah – Deep Water Safety Specialist Duo (waste deep)
Michael Kratochwill – Deep Water Safety Specialist Duo (knee deep)
Chad Erickson – Chief of the Entry Runway
Lorrie Hammer – Director of The Beach
Becky Carlson – Co- Director of the beach
Rachael Skoog – Runway Manager
Jasen Lasserud – Water Safety and Mood Manager
Michelle Linsmeyer – Head Cheerleader
Breana Ballweber – Honorable Mention
Gary DeVere – Splash Management – nobody was blinded by a splash under the eyelid, thanks Gary!
Stefan Rosenkoetter – Finishing Supervisor (aka Sandy Toes)
Molly Miller – In Charge of Crowd Control
Delilah Guertin – Queen of Shivering
Natalie Meschke – End Zone Referee
Danny Truong – Transition Specialist
Graham Robb – Best Hockey Hair
My son took lessons at Foss for many years. Recently, he completed his first MiracleKids triathlon and loved it! It was nice to see and visit with one of his former Foss swim instructors at the triathlon in Chanhassen.