Swimming and Diving Hosts Laps for CF Event Friday
4/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
April 17, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - For the third year in a row, the Alabama Swimming and Diving team will play host to Emily Schreiber and "Laps for CF" at the Alabama Aquatic Center Friday, April 18 starting at 4:30 p.m.
There will be exhibitions featuring Crimson Tide swimmers and divers as well as a meal by Outback Steakhouse, music by the Negotiators and entertainment for younger kids. In the midst of all that, Emily Schreiber, now 15, will swim the last four of her 100 laps for this leg of her "Laps for CF" initiative which raises money and awareness in the fight against cystic fibrosis. Admission to the event is a $5 donation at the door.
"This is one of the highlights of our year," Alabama head coach Eric McIlquham said. "This is our third event with Emily and our kids look forward to this all season. She is such a special young woman and we get so much out of just being around her and being a part of this great cause. Having such a young team, I kind of feel like we've grown up with Emily and we're grateful that she keeps coming back here and making the Crimson Tide a part of all this."
Schreiber was diagnosed with CF in January of 2003 at age nine. She confronted her condition with determination and resolve, putting together her first CF fund-raising event, dubbed Laps for CF, only six weeks after her diagnosis. An avid swimmer for years, her idea for the fund-raiser focused on individuals pledging dollar amounts for each lap she would swim.
"I am so excited to be swimming in my third annual Laps for CF Swim at the University of Alabama," Schreiber said. "I always look forward to coming back to Bama each year. The support we receive from the University and the Tuscaloosa community is amazing and goes a long way in helping improve treatment and care for cystic fibrosis patients throughout the state."
Since 2003, Schreiber and the Laps for CF Foundation have raised $1.3 million, which is donated to the CF Foundation, CF Hope and the Children's Hospital in Birmingham.
Schreiber's Laps for CF event has grown from swimming in a small community pool in Birmingham to gaining the support the of the state's two most prominent colleges, The University of Alabama and Auburn University, and, more recently, partnering with The Boomer Esiason Foundation and BioGuard to conduct nationwide swims.
