Sofo Swim and Dive Fights for Faith

Photo used with permission by Tanya Edwards

Fight For Faith. Varsity high school swim teams, Lambert and South Forsyth, show their support for a fellow swimmer and teammate Faith Johnson who is battling leukemia. Faith has been apart of Lambert’s varsity team for 4 years and has consistency helped the team place well at both the Forsyth County Championships and GHSA 6-7A state meet which takes place in February.

Grace Drawdy, Editor-in-Chief
December 14, 2020

On November 24th, 2020, South Forsyth Swim and Dive competed in a quad-meet with Lambert High School, Tift High School, and Pinecrest High School. This meet was in honor of Faith Johnson, a student and varsity swimmer of Lambert High School, who recently received a diagnosis of leukemia. Swimmers, students, and parents alike have overflowed with support for the Johnson Family during this hard time. 

 

There have been several ways that Forsyth County sports teams have shown their support for Faith. On November 4th, Lambert hosted a meet to raise awareness for leukemia. Leukemia is a blood cancer that attacks the body’s white blood cells in the body. This disease mainly affects the body’s ability to fight infections and foreign invaders that enter the body. In response to Faith’s diagnosis, Lambert High School arranged another meet to show their support for their fellow teammate. At this meet, the theme was an Orange-Out for leukemia awareness. This meet was a dual meet between Lambert High School and Denmark High school.

Prior to the quad meet on November 24th, South Forsyth High School and Lambert High School hosted another dual meet in honor of Johnson. The swim teams paired with North Georgia Promotions to create a t-shirt that shows the deep-rooted support system in Forsyth County. The shirts display orange writing, which is the official color of Leukemia awareness. Also, the design also features a giant dinosaur, highlighting Faith’s favorite animal. The dinosaur is proudly wearing an orange ribbon that supports the fight for blood cancer awareness. 

Leukemia Awareness. The logo displayed on the shirt features orange in support of Leukemia awareness. The shirt highlighted Faith’s favorite animal, a dinosaur, which has become the symbol of her cancer journey.

 

The meet overflowed with splashes of orange and immense support for Johnson’s fight. Since the meet took place during the pandemic, all swimmers and attendees made sure to follow masking and social distancing guidelines. As for the results of the meet, South Forsyth placed second after Lambert respectively. 

Top 5 war eagle individual finishes include: 

Max Betzer (200 free, 100 back)

Julian Van Peteghem (200 free, 100 free)

Jenny Chung (200 free, 500 free)

Charlotte Tully (200 Free, 100 back)

Jessica Davis (200 free)

Derek Henry (200 IM, 100 free)

Jack Reynolds (200 IM)

Owen Rhone (200 IM, 100 fly) 

Lizzie Ryan (200 IM, 100 fly)

Devin Schmuckal (50 free)

Matthew Mahone (100 fly, 100 back) 

Lynn Kong (100 fly)

Brandon Kim (500 free)

Nathan Meyer (500 free)

Grace Drawdy (500 free) 

Caroline Blair (100 back) 

All students and swimmers across the county wish Faith a speedy treatment and recovery. The overwhelming support shown towards Faith has been contagious, and many people offer the family much support during this hard time.

In addition, Faith has a Caring Bridge where her family posts daily updates on her treatment. Click the link here to sign up to view the updates of her treatment plan and current prognosis. “Seeing all of the orange was so empowering because it really showed how much support Faith has from the swimming community,” said Junior Lizzie Ryan. “It showed unity between all of the different swimmers coming together to support Faith.”