OLEAN, N.Y. — When high school swimmers Brooke Pecorella and Olivia Marshall learned that their 10-year-old friend, Colt Matz, was diagnosed with leukemia and hospitalized, they knew they had to do something to help.
The plan the two high school students organized is the Lapping Leukemia Swimathon, slated to be held at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Olean Family YMCA on Wayne Street.
Area swim teams and community members will host the event to raise funds for Colt and his family during this challenging time for them.
The swimathon, which will include a hotdog, coffee and lemonade sale in the YMCA parking lot, will also welcome donations to help Colt’s family.
Brooke’s mother, Laura Pecorella, provided some of the background story on the friendship that developed between the two girls and their young friend.
She said Colt first became friends with Brooke and Olivia when they all swam together at swim meets on teams such as the EMAC at the Olean Y and later the Bradford Barracuda team at the Bradford (Pa.) Family YMCA. Both girls also work as lifeguards at the meets.
Pecorella noted that Colt, a Portville Central School student, was diagnosed with leukemia three weeks ago and has been hospitalized at Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo since early May.
When the two girls learned of this, they “sprang into action” and set up the swimathon.
“His passion is for swimming,” Pecorella said of Colt. “What better way to help support him than to hold a swimathon.”
Colt, the son of Portville school teachers Christina and Michael Matz, will remain hospitalized until he receives a bone marrow transplant in August.
“She is up there (at the hospital) every day and only comes home on Sunday nights because they have one other child,” Pecorella said of Colt’s mother. “And (Michael Matz) has been traveling up there three or four times a week.”
In addition, Colt’s younger brother, Jack, has been determined to provide the bone marrow transplant for his sibling, as he is a perfect match.
As for the two organizers, Pecorella said her daughter, Brooke, is a junior at Allegany-Limestone High School, and Olivia is a senior at Portville high school.
In addition to setting up the event, which has registered more than 50 swimmers from ages 6 to 80, they have signed up paralympian swimmer Marth Ruether for the event. They also have engaged a St. Bonaventure University physician assistant student to attend and educate the public about leukemia. The event will have therapy dogs in attendance as well, T-shirt sales and a postcard station where the public can create postcards for Colt. The postcards will be delivered to Colt following the event.
“It will be an amazing event,” Pecorella concluded. “Brooke and Olivia have secured donations for every aspect of this event to ensure that every dollar raised goes directly to the Matz Family.”
More information on the swimathon can be found on the Facebook page for Laura Pecorella, at
#colt45strong or by emailing Pecorella at eaff58@yahoo.com.
