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Swimming & Diving Welcomes Max Elston to Squad
11/4/2014 6:37:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
DURHAM, N.C. – Duke University swimming and diving head coach Dan Colella and the Blue Devil men and women recently welcomed Max Elston as the newest member of the program. Max, an 11-year-old who was diagnosed with leukemia three years ago, signed with the Blue Devils Oct. 19.
Max and the Blue Devils were connected through Team IMPACT, a national organization that matches children fighting life-threatening or chronic illnesses with local college athletic teams. Team IMPACT children are drafted to a team on a special signing day planned by their teammates. He or she then outlines goals they would like to reach through the relationship with the student-athletes, building toward graduation from the program.
Since its inception in 2011, Team IMPACT has connected over 500 children with athletic teams at over 250 schools nationwide.
As a member of the Duke swimming and diving program, Max and his family have joined the Blue Devils on the pool deck at home meets. He has been instrumental in leading cheers for the swimmers and divers while they compete. A fellow swimmer who broke the boys' backstroke record for the 7-8 year old age group on his team, Max is also a baseball and basketball fan and considers Teen Titans his favorite TV show. He has a dog named Meko and a cat named Lucky, and enjoys rocking out to AC/DC.
Senior Maddie Rusch serves as Duke's on-campus ambassador for Team IMPACT and helped get Max matched with the men's and women's swimming and diving teams. Along with Ashleigh Shanley, Kevin Fraser, Nick Bigot, Michael Miller, Jessie Sutherland, Kiera Molloy, Colleen Wixted, Lindsay Schlichte and Dylan Payne, Rusch spearheaded Max's Signing Day event and continues to guide the Blue Devils in building bonds with their newest teammate.
For more information on Team IMPACT, visit their website at www.goteamimpact.org.
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Players Mentioned
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Distance Free/IM
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Sprint Free/Fly
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Distance Free
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Breast/IM
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Back/Fly/Free
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Mid-Free/Fly
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