07/13/2022
“SWIM AROUND THE WORLD” Event this Sunday, July 17th! 🏊🏽♂️ 🌎
NAC is honored to be a part of a historical swimming event taking place this coming Sunday at La Fonda at 10 AM.
Please join Coach Tomas on Sunday morning to cheer on Chuck as he completes his "Swim Around the World". The La Fonda press release is copied and pasted below.
Don't forget to wear your NAC gear! 👕
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Chuck DiMeglio to Complete “Swim Around the World” in the Heart of Santa Fe at La Fonda on the Plaza
A lifelong love of water started at Santa Fe’s historic hotel, La Fonda on the Plaza – where Chuck first learned to swim in 1963. About 26,000,000 strokes later, Chuck will achieve his goal of swimming equivalently around the world – a total of 24,901 miles – swimming laps at local pools for over five decades. Averaging four thousand yards per day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year for forty-four years, Chuck will finally achieve his dream at La Fonda’s pool on Sunday, July 17, 2022, at 10AM MST.
Santa Fe’s first commercial pool was constructed in 1950 at La Fonda – then operated by the Fred Harvey Company. Chuck’s father, Sebastian DiMeglio has a storied history with the Fred Harvey Company and held the post as La Fonda’s General Manager from 1963 to 1965. The DiMeglio family lived at the hotel, occupying the second-floor rooms facing the plaza at the corner of San Francisco Street and Old Santa Fe Trial, now the hotel’s executive offices, a guest room and a hall. The family enjoyed one of the best apartments and views in the city with a kitchen, dining area, two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a living room and a den area with a kiva fireplace -- and of course, unlimited access to the hotel’s food and beverage outlets, room service, maid service, amenities, and most importantly, the swimming pool.
Access to La Fonda’s swimming pool had a lasting impact on the DiMeglio family. It is where DiMeglio and his siblings learned to swim and contributed to his successful swimming career spanning from summer league to Masters, and of course, his dream of circling the globe (in laps)! His three children in turn, developed a strong connection and respect for the water – all three were competitive club and high school swimmers while coaching and teaching the sport throughout their youth.
To celebrate the remarkable achievement, La Fonda invites Chuck back to the pool where it all began and will donate $500 dollars in DiMeglio’s name to Santa Fe’s Northern Aquatic Club, a nonprofit organization committed to providing swimming instruction and water safety to communities who have historically been cut off from swimming because of race, nationality, religion, s*x, gender, s*xual orientation, cultural, disability, and socio-economic reasons.
The DiMeglio Family, Chuck and his wife Shelly DiMeglio, his father Sebastian DiMeglio and mother, Priscilla Sammet will also match the contribution and any additional donations up to $750 dollars to support access to swimming lessons to underprivileged youth in Santa Fe.
Tomas Duran, head coach of Northern Aquatic Club, along with club swimmers will join La Fonda’s General Manager, Rik Blyth and Director of Sales and Hotel Historian, Ed Pulsifer at La Fonda’s pool on Sunday, July 17th to cheer Chuck on as he achieves his dream.
“With such a deep connection to La Fonda, I wanted to be sure Chuck was able to finish his goal of swimming around the world where it all started, in the very heart of Santa Fe” states Ed Pulsifer, Director of Sales and Hotel Historian. “This event is about celebrating how dreams are made and goals are achieved while providing opportunities for the disadvantaged to develop swimming skills and a love for the water that will last a lifetime.”
