Catherine Lee Ha

One of the nicest people, and a dear friend to many fellow swimmers passed away last night. Catherine Lee Ha, a current Eastern Michigan University Senior swimmer from Toronto, Ontario had been hospitalized for the last few months for an unknown illness. As of just a few days ago I heard she was doing satisfactory but had been placed in a drug induced coma to determine her illness. Unfortunately doctors were never able to find out why she was sick in the first place. Not many details are known right now but it has devastated many in the local swimming community.

Catherine or "Cat" as many teammates knew her was a great swimmer, a positive roll model and beloved to everybody who knew her. I had a the opportunity to swim with her this past summer at EMU while she trained with the team. I didn't know her as well as many other swimmers but it was obvious she made others happy and she always had a smile on her face.

The amount of calls and messages I've received from alumni inquiring about the situation and how to offer support to the current swimmers and coaches is a testament to how much of a family the Eastern Michigan Swimming community really is. I'm very proud to be an alumni of such a strong group of individuals. As a group, we've dealt with some very difficult losses over the past 7 years. Both Keith Falk and Jon Breitigam are also in our memories as we deal with the passing of Cat.

The EMU swimmers and coaching staff will need the support of the alumni and fellow teams. We will all miss you Cat.