Watertown Rotary's 'Swimarathon' to raise money Saturday for polio eradication

Feb. 9—WATERTOWN — The Watertown Rotary Club is once again raising donations for the Rotary Foundation to pay for polio vaccinations in an effort to eradicate the disease.

This year's annual Swimarathon, now in its 10th year, will be held from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Watertown High School pool, 1335 Washington St.

The fundraising effort is in response to a challenge set forth by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Rotary International, where donations amassed for Rotary International will be matched. Participating swimmers are asked to seek out donations from friends, neighbors and fellow Rotarians, all of whom will be matched by the foundation on a 3-to-1 basis.

Participants this year from the Watertown Rotary Club are Jeff Barnard, Jeff Combs, Howie Ganter, Beth Linderman, Clement Wong, Jeff Wood, Don Woodhouse and Diana Woodhouse.

Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus that lives in the throat and intestinal tract with those who develop symptoms experiencing paralysis or death. Since the mid 1980s, one of the missions of Rotary International, an organization of more than 33,000 clubs worldwide and 1.2 million members, has been to eradicate this crippling childhood disease around the world.

While most of world remains free of the disease, it remains endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The issues that prevent more children from being immunized against polio are complex, from the remoteness of some communities to political resistance.

Concerns about polio in the United States grew in July when a Rockland County man in his 50s became the first person in New York to contract the disease since 1990 and evidence of the poliovirus was found in New York City wastewater.

Pledges or donations may be sent to the Watertown Rotary Club at P.O. Box 6274, Watertown, N.Y. 13601. Checks should be made out to the The Rotary Foundation with "Polio Plus" in the memo line.