Michael Phelps attends Lincoln benefit to raise money for water safety programs

The city of Lincoln hosted a very famous athlete on Friday night.

A 28-time Olympic medalist (and 23-time gold medalist) is partnering with a Lincoln organization to promote water safety.

It was the annual fundraiser for the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation (JCMF).

They’re partnering with the Michael Phelps foundation, and Michael Phelps himself, was in attendance.

The JCMF seeks to promote educational awareness for water safety.

The organization was started back in 2008 after 2-year-old Joshua Collingsworth died in a tragic drowning accident.

“After we lost Joshua, I started looking around at the severity of the problem and I didn’t realize that the number one cause of unintentional death to children 1 to 4 is drowning,” said Blake Collingsworth, the director/founder of JCMF.

For the past 11 years, support for the organization has continued to grow.

Programs such as Josh the Otter and Float 4 Life have come up with ways to reduce drownings through early education.

It even got the attention of the most decorated Olympian of all-time.

“Through all that effort of trying to educate children and adults about water safety, we’ve created a fantastic relationship with the Michael Phelps Foundation, and we’ve been fortunate enough that Michael and his wife Nicole were willing to come in to Lincoln and support what we’re doing here and try to help us educate people about water safety,” said Collingsworth.

The event featured a meet and greet with Michael Phelps himself.

It drew the attention of hundreds of Lincolnites, and one current huskers basketball coach, Fred Hoiberg.

One girl says her wildest dreams came true by getting to meet her idol.

“It was a dream come true, it was so cool being able to meet him. I look up to him, and it was just a really cool experience to finally being able to meet my idol,” said Lanyon Mlinek, a high school student at Lincoln southwest.

After retirement, Phelps has been active in the water safety community.

He’s committed to promoting healthy living and the pursuit of dreams.

And this was his way of showing support for a cause he cares about.

“We’re very pleased with the support that we’ve had throughout all of Lincoln and the state, and all across the country, that have looked at the statistics and said, let’s do something about this, let’s make a difference, let’s save some lives,” said Collingsworth.

There was a live and silent auction held tonight.

If you’d like to find out how to get involved, head to www.joshtheotter.org or text the word ‘josh’ to 79230 for more information.