\n[[Julia Dermer shows off one of the Orange for Erin<\/i> team caps]]<\/p>\n
ORLANDO, Florida, March 15. DYNAMO Swim Club looks a little different at this weekend's 2013 NCSA Junior National Championships. Instead of their signature green, the entire team is racing in orange caps with “Orange for Erin: Never Give Up, Never Lose Hope” written on the side.<\/p>\n
The reason for change isn't a happy one. Erin Pfleger, a longtime Dynamo swimmer, was diagnosed with leukemia in early January. <\/p>\n
“We've grown up [swimming] with her,” said teammate Julia Dermer. “You never think it's going to happen to someone you know.”<\/p>\n
The Dynamo squad took action shortly after hearing her diagnosis. Team parents created and sold the orange caps and t-shirts, the color of leukemia awareness, to raise money for Pfleger's treatment. The design has Erin's name inscribed inside the symbolic cause ribbon symbol.<\/p>\n
“We started out selling the caps to raise money for the family, and now we're showing our support for [Pfleger] and her family,” Dermer explained about wearing the caps at the Junior National Championship meet. “It's a way for us to unite for our teammate.” <\/p>\n
So far, Pfleger has responded well to the chemotherapy. Leukemia targets a person's blood or bone marrow, so the next step in Pfleger's six months of treatment includes finding out whether or not she is eligible for a bone marrow transplant. <\/p>\n
Although she's too weak to swim during treatment, Pfleger frequently stops by the pool to visit her teammates at practice and meets. <\/p>\n
“She came to Dynamo to see friends before practice every single day,” Dermer said. “And she came to some of the meets and high school state.” <\/p>\n
Pfleger's Lakeside Viking teammates also swapped their purple and gold high school colors for orange t-shirts at the Georgia high school state meet in mid-February. <\/p>\n
The orange tradition continued at the NCSA Championships this weekend. “It's a way for our team to come together for a really great cause,” said Dermer. <\/p>\n
“We're using [the caps] for awareness right now, and then we're going to swap them with other teams at the end of the meet to raise awareness.”<\/p>\n
“She actually doesn't know that we're going to switch them.”<\/p>\n
\n[[Julia Dermer shows off one of the Orange for Erin<\/i> team caps]]<\/p>\n
Written by Shoshanna Rutemiller
\nShoshannaR@swimmingworld.com <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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