On October 13th, three-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Aaron Peirsol took a break outside of his rigorous training schedule leading up the 2008 Beijing Olympics to attend the Long Beach Green Port Fest, where he was honored for his efforts to spread awareness about the declining health of the oceans and encourage others to “dive in” to ocean conservation. The Green Port Fest is an annual event sponsored by the Port of Long Beach. This year the Port welcomed 7,000 visitors to its annual festival.
Peirsol, a Toyota “Engines of Change” athlete and spokesperson for Oceana, spent part of his day at the Port meeting and greeting fans and interacting with kids at the Long Beach Aquarium exhibit, where participants could get a hands-on look at local sea life such as sea anemones, starfish and sharks. From the main stage, Peirsol was announced as a special guest by the Port’s commissioner and other Long Beach officials. Afterwards, the crowd followed Peirsol to a theatre onsite, where he took the stage to accept a $10,000 check from Toyota for his “Race for the Oceans” (http://www.racefortheoceans.org/), an Oceana campaign designed to help Peirsol engage swimming fans and swimmers in ocean conservation. Peirsol spoke about the importance of healthy oceans and encouraged the fans in the audience to become Oceana “WaveMakers” and support the organization’s world-wide ocean protection programs.
“Since I was a little kid growing up in Orange County, I have seen a lot of changes in the oceans – not just me, but a lot of my buddies. It was one of those things where as soon as one of us could make a big difference, we would jump on the opportunity, which is why I am working with Oceana. It's great to see that the Port of Long Beach is also taking action - they have been doing such a great job getting the community involved through their Green Port program,” said Peirsol.
Peirsol also spoke about his role with Toyota’s “Engines of Change” campaign (http://www.toyotaenginesofchange.com/), a national program that supports top athletes who are making a difference and creating positive change in their communities.
“Leading up to the 2008 Olympics I am swimming as much as I can - I am also trying to raise as much money as I can to help Oceana work’s in advocating for our oceans,” he continued.
“The Port is grateful for Aaron coming out and talking about his commitment to saving our oceans. It takes a lot for someone who is training for the Olympics to take time to come out to this event. We really appreciate that and appreciate Oceana being here as well,” said Port’s Media Relations Manager, John Pope. To learn more about the Port of Long Beach, visit: http://www.polb.com/. For photographs from the event, email Juliana Stein at jstein@oceana.org.
