“Growing up in the northwest, I was always near a body of water yet my family was fearful of entering it.” With the help of friends, Morgan started his journey of swimming in 2013. From not being able to put his face in the water, he learned how to manage his childhood trauma and began competing in sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. Early on he would start with a front crawl and end up on his back doing an elementary backstroke. His fear of the water eventually faded as he and his youngest daughter spent time playing in the water. “As she learned to be confident in the water, I gained strength from her.” In time he learned the freestyle stroke and was able to swim 25-50-100 yards without stopping in the pool. In parallel he learned to swim in the open water as well. His persistence led to his accomplishing a 3.8K swim in open water. He has set his sites on doing a 140.6 triathlon and completing the bridge swim held in the Willamette. In the short term he is eager to learn to be a swim instructor so he can share this gift with others.