Connor Childs, 22, a member of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands and a local conservationist, recently completed a lifelong goal and raised funds for nature conservation.
Inspired by Andrea Roach, his former Montessori By The Sea teacher, Childs swam five miles on 14 Aug. from Cayman Brac to Little Cayman, an experience he described as “one of the best moments of my life”, in an effort to fundraise for the National Trust.
“He decided to use this personal challenge as an opportunity to give back by raising funds for nature conservation to protect our native biodiversity with the National Trust for the Cayman Islands,” stated a National Trust press release.
“Encouraging messages and donations to the National Trust Land Reserve Fund poured in, helping to raise over $13,000 in personal donations for the protection of ecologically significant habitats across our three islands.”
When reflecting on the value of the funds raised, Childs said, “We all know that land in the Cayman Islands is more on the expensive side, but $13,000 goes a long way to protecting land that would otherwise have eventually gone to developers.”
Beyond the support he received from the Cayman community during his journey to complete the swim, Childs was also met with support from local wildlife.
“During the swim, he appeared to be cheered on by a Brown Booby, which helped lead the way as he cleared the halfway point. This was a poignant moment, as Connor was striving to protect what he loves, the natural heritage of the Cayman Islands,” the Trust press release said.
Childs described the first three-quarters of the swim as “beautiful” and a “walk in the park”.
He said he was mesmerised by the deep blue of the Cayman trench and the way the sun’s rays beamed down into the water, adding, “That was another thing that really motivated me to keep going because I felt such a need to protect that.
“There’s so much beauty out there in the world and it needs to be protected, even if it’s just one person … you are doing a massive job.”
However, during the last quarter of the swim, he said, “that’s when it became purely a mental battle because … I felt like I just was not making any more progress.”
At this point, he said he had to repeatedly tell himself, “This is for the environment. I’m not going to stop. Nothing is going to get me out of this water.”
He said another motivator was having Roach join him as he swam the last mile towards Point of Sand, Little Cayman, where they were greeted by the local community.
Childs reflects on swim three weeks later
Childs shared that over the summer, he realised he had “done a lot of talking about conservation and what we should be doing” and decided it was time to put his words into action.
“I figured, for once, I’m going to show people … how to put that foot forward, and how to make environmental change, even if it’s just one person doing it. … I’ve always been such a firm believer that actions speak louder than words, and that’s what I wanted to achieve with this swim. I really want to show my dedication to the environment,” he said.
To prepare for the swim, Childs said he took any chance he could get in the water to go for a swim.
“In the last two weeks [leading up to the swim], I would get out twice a day, once in the morning before work and then after work in the evening during sunset, so I was literally spending all my days in the water and it was amazing. There’s no other way I would have rather spent it,” he said.
He hopes that his swim will inspire others to take action, saying, “The impact one person can make is massive. What multiple people and a community can do when they put their minds together for positive change, that’s a generational change right there that has generational, lasting impacts in a positive way.”
Childs is currently studying at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, completing a bachelor of arts in geography and environment.
He dreams of returning to Cayman to work for the Department of Environment Marine Research Unit, a career he interned for over the summer.
Childs made reference to the great portion of the earth covered by oceans, saying, “I want to work with everything that has to do with the marine environment. … It’s really our lifeline when it comes to battling the climate crisis and it’s something that needs everyone’s attention and protection.”
