In this Bond thriller, he will be swimming the bay for MDA' - 03-26-1997 - Eastern Shore News
Former Navy SEAL swims across bay for MDA - 05-31-1997 - Associated Press
Man pledges to swim 15 miles across Bay for muscular dystrophy - The Virginian-Pilot
Eastern
Shore News
Wednesday, March 26, 1997
In this Bond thriller, he will be
swimming the bay for MDA'
BY TED SHOCKLEY
Staff Writer
Hampton Roads resident Michael Bond's idea of a good deed isn't an average good deed.
"I have found that what makes me happiest is to use the tools I have been blessed with to make other happy," said Bond, who owns a Virginia Beach software company and is a former Navy SEAL.
With that, Bond has taken on the challenging task of swimming the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay - from Fisherman's Island to the Duck Inn at the Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach - to raise money for the Hampton Roads Muscular Distrophy Association, which includes the Eastern Shore.
Bond's project - dubbed Swim the Bay for MDA - will be Friday, May 30. It will be a morning swim held at the halway point between peak flood and peak ebb tides. And he's currently accepting pledges and sponsorship for the swim.
As of Monday morning, Bond had gathered over $2,400 in pledges for the trip.
Only one of those pledges, however, has been made from the Eastern Shore, Bond's jumping-off point. According to Tracey Ashley of the Hampton Roads MDA, the money will go toward funding MDA activities from Richmond to Virginia Beach, and from the Easter Shore to Nags Head, N.C.
"Any event that's held within that geographical area, the money stays here," Ashley said. "That's something we are very proud of."
Activities funded by the MDA include patient services, support groups, research, and the MDA Summer Camp in Wakefield, which is held in June and annually receives special needs campers from the Eastern Shore, Ashley said.
The MDA is the world's leading voluntary health agency sponsoring neuromuscular disease research. It seeks causes of, and treatments for, 40 neuromuscular diseases. One of the association's best-known fundraisers is the annual Jerry Lewis "Stars Across America" Labor Day Telethon.
Michael Bond isn't out to be the next Jerry Lewis. But he said he's always wanted to swim the bay, and wants to help a worthy cause in the process.
"I'm not a professional swimmer nor a professional athlete," said Bond, who owns and manages the Quantrex Corporation, a computer software company. "I learned the extent to which I can push myself when I was a Navy SEAL and discovered that nothing is impossible."
"In the eyes of the children stricken with neuromuscular disease, I see the challenge that needs to be overcome, in their lives and in my own."
Bond isn't the first to swim the Chesapeake for a good cause. Back in the early 1980s, Eastville resident Inothe Rhodes swam the bay to benefit the American Red Cross.
And in a May 29 reception at the Cape Charles Museum and Welcome Center, both Rhodes and Bond will meet guests and discuss the swim.
All proceeds from the reception, which is sponsored by the Cape Charles - Northhampton County Chamber of Commerce, will go to benefit both the Red Cross and the MDA.
For more information, or to make reservations, call the chamber at 331-2304.
According to Christian Holmes, administrator for Swim the Bay for MDA, Bond brings a lot of heart to the table.
"He's a really sweet guy who likes to challenge himself," she said. "He decided he was going to swim the bay and he didn't want to do it for nothing."
Bond has been training for the swim for months now. It'll be a 15-mile swim - which will take him as estimated eight hours to complete - but the length could increase with the current and the tides.
He doesn't want to make a go of it alone.
"I want you to join me through your pledges and donations," he said. "While I am spending hours in the pools and working out to prepare for this swim, I ask that you take a little time to sign up your neighbors and co-workers as donors."
To make pledges or learn more about Swim the Bay for MDA, contact the Muscular Distrophy Association at (757)461-0177 or Quantrex at (757)464-0125. Those interested can also visit the Quantrex Internet site at http://www.quantrex.com/stb.htm to make pledges or learn more about the swim.
Former Navy SEAL swims across bay for MDA
By SONJA BARISIC
Associated Press Writer
On Friday, the 40-year-old former Navy SEAL fulfilled that dream and raised money for children with muscular dystrophy, a group of diseases that progressively destroy the muscles.
''It's a good day for a swim,'' he told reporters as he waded into calm but chilly 62-degree water off Fisherman's Island at 8:22 a.m. ''See you on the other side.''
Eight hours and 30 minutes later, Bond waded ashore at Lynnhaven Inlet in Virginia Beach as 150 onlookers cheered. His fiancé, Lynda LaLonge, ran into the water and gave him a hug and kiss.
''I'm a little wobbly and disoriented,'' said Bond, who added that his ears hurt and his tongue was swollen from salt water.
Bond said he stopped only to eat two bananas and sip Gatorade while treading water. About eight miles into the swim, a tanker had to be diverted so Bond could cross a shipping channel.
June Plymate, 36, of Newport News, sat on a wheelchair waiting for Bond to arrive. She and her 16-year-old daughter Becky both have muscular dystrophy.
''I want to let him know someone gives thanks for what he is doing for us,'' Ms. Plymate said.
The former Navy commando wore a black and blue insulated wetsuit to retain heat, a yellow swimmer's cap and goggles. He swam freestyle the entire way.
Bond figured it would take him eight hours to swim the 15 miles from the island on the southern tip of Virginia's Eastern Shore to Virginia Beach.
Bond prepared for the swim by training intensively six days a week since October, lifting weights, running and swimming. His longest swim prior to Friday was six miles.
Another swimmer, Ruben Quezada of Virginia Beach, joined Bond in the water Friday to help him set a pace. Quezada, 28, also swam most of the way. Bond also was accompanied by some SEAL buddies in three boats.
Bond asked people to pledge money for every mile he swims or donate a lump sum. Quantrex, the Virginia Beach computer software company he owns, also set up an Internet site to accept pledges.
About $5,000 in pledges had been received by Friday, but pledges were still coming in. The money will go to the Hampton Roads Muscular Dystrophy Association, which funds research, patient services, support groups and a summer camp in Wakefield.
Bond said he was moved to help the MDA when he began designing software for a children's hospital in Norfolk. Seeing children with muscular dystrophy sitting in wheelchairs made him think of a friend's brother, who died of MD, and of the kids he coaches in Little League.
Bond spent 13 years as a SEAL until devoting himself full time to his computer business in 1993.
Bond isn't the first to swim the bay for a good cause. In the early 1980s, Eastville resident Inothe Roads did it to benefit the American Red Cross.
AP-ES-05-31-97 0013EDT