She’s raising money for Haiti by — hold your breath — swimming underwater
Last year, Janine Schuliger in one month swam 200 25yard lengths of the butterfly stroke as part of a fundraiser for the people of Haiti.
The 61-year-old Pine resident took on a more daunting task this year, swimming 200 lengths of freestyle underwater.
In Run Across May, participants pledge to do 200 of an activity individually or on teams. Proceeds go to WORK, a nonprofit in Los Angeles, Calif., which helps people in one of the poorest nations in the world get out of poverty by providing them gainful, dignified jobs.
Ms. Schuliger, a masters competitor and former University of Pittsburgh swimmer, swims all times of the day, depending on her schedule, usually at the Oxford Athletic Club in Pine or the YMCA in Cranberry. (When traveling recently, she had to find pools in Georgia and New Mexico.)
“I do not swim everyday,” she said. “When I do, I generally group my underwater lengths in sets of four.
“At the beginning of each length, I do a breathing exercise that helps my lungs prepare. I will rest about 20 seconds after each length.”
She said after that swimming fourth lengths, she will swim some regular sets of different strokes, then go back to the underwater sets. She typically swims 12 to 15 lengths each time she is in the pool.
Nina Novak, a swimming instructor at the Oxford Athletic Club who for many years has watched and helped Ms. Schuliger, said unless a swimmer is doing only one 25-yard length or is highly trained and in a competitive race, swimming underwater is unusual.
She said Ms. Schuliger must hold her breath underwater for 25 yards before any recovery breath, unlike a female masters competitor her age who will take 15 to 22 seconds to swim 25 yards and may breathe during the length.
“And she is doing her swimming without the help of fins, which would lessen her time underwater each length,” Ms. Novak said. “As impressive as this is, she must average seven lengths a day for the month.
“If she misses a day, she must double the number of lengths the next day.”
Dick Bradshaw, who coached Ms. Schuliger, nee Scotti, at Pitt and has kept in touch with her over the years, said the large number she is doing takes a lot of time and concentration.
Ms. Schuliger said it takes about 27 seconds to do an underwater lap.
“Besides holding one’s breath while exercising, there is the added component of pressurization by being under water, which makes it even harder,” she said.
Ms. Schuliger, a retired licensed massage therapist, became interested in Haiti after a group of orphans from the Caribbean nation came to Western Pennsylvania after a devastating earthquake there in 2010. She helped take care of them as a volunteer during their stay at the Holy Family Institute in Emsworth.
She played a support role in WORK’s 2018 Run Across Haiti, a 200-mile run from the northern tip of the country to its southern end created to show Haiti is not a place to be feared or pitied.
She learned about WORK from her daughter, Christina, who did missionary work in Haiti and married a man she met through the program.
Her 6-year-old grandson, Elijah Fils-Aime, planned to pick up 200 pieces of trash as a member of the 10-person team she assembled.
Ms. Novak said Ms. Schuliger is extremely motivated, which is evident both in her
swimming and successful fight against two bouts of breast cancer.
Now, she said, she has added an extremely difficult challenge for the purpose of helping others.
“It’s impressive,” Ms. Novak said.
To donate to Ms. Schuliger, go to https://charity.pledgeit.org/f/mBH6dkP2AZ.