SPECIAL TO THE TIMES/NEWS

Does anything we do make a difference? Did that smile, kind word, donation at church mean anything? One good answer to such fundamental questions is the Brent Rice Memorial Swim of the Sound, which took swimmers from Des Moines Beach Park to Point Robinson on Maury Island on Saturday, Aug. 23.

The 2.3-mile swim was founded in 2006 by then 17-year-old Justin Moser to honor Brent Rice, a Des Moines man who helped and inspired Moser in his quest to become a swimmer. Funds raised by the swim are used to aid others, paying for swimming lessons for low-income youngsters and promote aquatic safety-education classes in the Puget Sound area.

A fateful meeting

Moser met Rice when Moser, who came from what he describes as "a bit of a broken family," desperately wanted at 11 years old to learn how swim. He needed a coach mentor but didn't have many options.

Enter Brent Rice, a very busy young man who worked two jobs and was a lifeguard at Angle Lake. When Moser first approached Rice for help, the lifeguard shied away. Rice already had too much on his plate. After some thought, however, Rice decided to give the spindly kid a chance.

Not only did Moser learn how to swim, but later that summer, full of training and confidence, he participated in his first youth triathalon. Rice kept an eye on his young prodigy as the years went by, giving swimming tips, shepherding him into the lifeguard community and lending a sympathetic ear,

"There was a big difference in our ages, but he always spoke to me like an adult," recalled Moser. "I really appreciated that."

Rice would floor Moser at least one more time with his generosity of spirit. Right before Moser entered his second youth triatholon at age 14, Rice gave his eighth-place Junior National Swimming Championship medal to his prot/g/.

"He told me, 'This is the most I've ever won, and I want you to have it. You deserve it,'" remembers Moser.

The medal became one of Moser's most important talismans, reminding him he can do anything and that he has people on his side.

When Moser was 15 years old, he lost then 24-year-old Rice in a car accident, as the van the older swimmer was in swerved to avoid a coyote on an Arizona road.

"I cried more that month than I had ever in my life," said Moser.

The young swimmer refused to let the life of his friend and mentor end with tears. Within a year Moser had inspired the people around him to help him create the Brent Rice Memorial Swim of the Sound. So far the event has generated enough funds for 150 lessons.

Swimming the Sound

At this year's third annual "Sound Swim," conditions could not have been more ideal: the breeze slight, the sun bright, the water still and calm. Approximately 30 swimmers participated, twice as many as last year, including novices and master swimmers like Scott Lautman, who swam the English Channel in 2000. Spirits and cameraderie were high among swimmers in four skill groups ranging from "racers" to "just to finish" class as they dove into the water at the base of the Des Moines Pier. Still, this 2.3-mile journey in fifty-degree water is not a contest for the faint of heart. To keep the swimmers safe, the event utilizes the Des Moines Fire Department, lifeguards, the U.S. Coast Guard and dozen volunteer chase boats.

The course on average takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. This year, in Rice's honor, his brother Scott wanted to shatter the previous record and complete the swim in less than hour. He finished in 50 minutes and 15 seconds, setting a new course record. Scott Lautman came in second at 56 minutes and 50 seconds. In the female class the fastest swimmer was Mackenzie Marrs at 1:04:11, with Megan Wilson and Molly Larson tying for second at 1:10:30.

The day wasn't just for the swift but for the stout of heart. Melina Lambuth, whose wetsuit restricted her breathing from the moment she stared in the water, had to take a break on a chase boat halfway through the course. More angry with herself than the suit for not soldiering on, Lambuth almost sat out the rest of the swim. Instead, within minutes, she had regrouped, jumped back in the water, and swam into the beach at Robison Point on Maury Island, where she was met by her father.

Ripple effect

As the athletes dined on grilled hamburgers and franks donated by the Emerald Cove Catering Company, the ripples of Brent Rice still echoed. Rice's brothers, friends and old coaches fondly remembered his even temperament and talked about how he was, as Moser said, "adventurous to the extreme extent and wanted everyone else to be."

When Rice died, he was carrying a list inspired by Dale Carnegie. Moser keeps that list on him and uses it as a lodestone when things get tough.

As Moser, Capt. Dave Mataftin of the Des Moines Fire Department and Julia Burrows, event coordinator for the swim, stood on the beach debriefing Saturday's events, it was obvious that number 21 on Rice's list had been in full force: "Throw down a challenge!"

Moser, now 19, is not only the event director of the annual "Sound Swim," but also the director and owner of Reel Focus Films. Through swimming, Rice threw down a challenge that helped Moser become a man useful both to himself and to others.

To find out how to help youngsters learn how to swim, donate items or take the plunge into Puget Sound for the annual swim, contact Moser at event_director@brmsos.com or Event Coordinator Julia Burrows at 206-999-2087. For information about next year's swim, go to http://www.brmsos.com.