Nobody knew it at the time, but when Carly Lenett was just seven years old, she came up with an idea that would go on to become a major fundraiser for diabetes research.

When talking about an upcoming diabetes walk with her dad, Mitch, Carly asked if she could “swim the walk.” Since that wasn’t possible, the Lenett’s decided on another plan: developing their own fundraiser centered around Carly’s love of swimming.

“I had no idea at the time just how big this would become,” said Carly. “I just thought it would be more fun to swim than to walk and my dad had the idea of doing this so we could raise money.”

Now, at age 11, Carly has raised over $100,000 for diabetes research, including raising $20,000 recently with her annual Team Carly Rocks Foundation swim event where Carly swims a 5K – over 200 laps – in the Emmaus High School pool.

For the past four years, Carly has been joined in the swim by Olympic silver medalist Kristy Kowal. Kowal won her medal in the 200-meter breaststroke in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. This year, another Olympic swimmer, Gary Hall Jr., who won 10 medals (five gold, three silver and two bronze) in three different Olympic games also joined the event.

“This is an amazing event and to have a girl like Carly wanting to do all of this to help find a cure for diabetes just makes it so special,” said Hall. “This is my first time here and it’s great. I’m really excited about it.”

Olympic cyclist and Emmaus graduate Marty Nothstein also joined the event, signing autographs and meeting with fans and being part of Carly’s cheering section.

“It’s always great to come back to my old high school and see how the place has changed,” said Nothstein. “And for an event like this, it’s just fantastic. It’s nice to see how many people came out and all of the activities that they’ve got going on, this is a great thing to have here.”

Besides Carly and her two Olympic friends doing the 5K swim, a kid’s swim clinic was held prior to the swim, with Hall conducting the clinic. There were also educational displays and local businesses who contributed to the event.

“I can’t believe that we have three Olympians this year,” said Carly with her typical big smile. “It’s great to have these people want to help and it’s fun to get to swim with them and just get to hang out with everyone.”

Kowal, who is now a teacher in Bucks County, talks to her class every year about the event and has been surprised by how many lives are touched by diabetes.

“Every year, there are kids who say, ‘oh, my uncle has diabetes, my Mom has diabetes,’” said Kowal. “You don’t realize until you really talk about it just how many people are affected by diabetes and even young kids know what it is.

“The students in my class were so impressed by Carly and how much she has done to raise money and awareness. She really is a special person.”

To donate to the Team Carly Rocks Foundation, visit TeamCarlyRocks.com.