This morning on the sidewalk on Tampa Street just south of Cass in downtown Tampa, a brother and sister team are attempting to set a record by rowing more than 26 hours straight.
Shannon and Matthew Casey started their fund-raising marathon Wednesday at 11 a.m. with plans to trade off rowing - one hour each - until 1:12 p.m. Thursday, May 16, 2013.
As of 6:30 a.m. Thursday, their father, Tom Casey, reported that the duo made it through the night. Their pace slowed but they kept rowing. Shannon was on the Erg machine at the time.
He said throughout the night they raised about $100. Their goal is to raise $5000 for Quantum Leap Farm which offers equine therapy to wounded veterans and military families.
Shannon has volunteered at Quantum Leap Farm since high school. She’s now a student at the University of South Florida. She can't conceive of not reaching their goal.
"It’s such a wonderful organization (Quantum Leap Farm)," Shannon said. "I wouldn’t want to let them down at all."
Her brother Matt said he wanted to do something to help veterans after meeting several WWII vets when he started a stock club at a local retirement community.
"What Quantum does is, yes people have a lot of injuries but, they get them back on their feet and provide them the therapy in order to live their lives like the veterans at the stock market club," Matt said.
The brother – sister duo have their father watching over them to prevent injury or exhaustion. Tom Casey knows a little bit about endurance athletics. For 12 years, he has participated in a relay swim of Long Island Sound to raise money for cancer research.
