Compete Magazine 2010 athlete of the year

Like a lot of us, Michael Holtz has been to his fair share of cocktail receptions, black tie dinners, auctions and performances – all earnest fundraisers for equality activism. But, let’s face it, those have become so commonplace that they’re just another day on people’s calendars, and after awhile it’s the same people participating over and over. It’s what most of us have known since we first became active in this community.

Fortunately for us, there often comes along a young person with new energy and new ideas – someone to introduce a new way of thinking about fundraising. Right now that person is Michael , aoty-michael-holtz-01a lifelong swimmer who has challenged people to do more than buy a ticket, put on their best suit and have a few cocktails. He has challenged people to actually get physical!

With last September’s Swim For Equality fundraiser, the 26-year-old positive-thinker with the All-American looks was able to bring together 52 swimmers from six different states for a 1.7-mile swim off the coast of Malibu. The unique fundraiser – which saw involvement from people aged 19 to 70, straight and gay – raised $148,000 for Equality California. Michael came up with the idea after organizing a similar event in New York City in 2009 – a 5K open water swim from Long Island to Fire Island that raised over $100,000 for the Stonewall Community Foundation.

Keep reading HERE.