SPY Swimmer Orchestrates Memorial Triathlon

For the past seven years, former SPY swimmer David Ensor has spent his time organizing a triathlon to honor a girl he never even met.

During Ensor’s first year with SPY in 2004, Emily Schindler was killed in a car crash at Frostburg State University.

“She passed away the first year I was on the team with her brother, Charlie,” Ensor said. “After she died we all went to Woods Church as a group. I just wanted to do something to carry on her legacy.”

When Ensor heard that Emily’s parents Jane and Charles Schindler had started a scholarship in their daughter’s name, he decided a triathlon would be a good way to raise money.

So, having never met Emily, Ensor created the Emily Schindler Memorial Triathlon.

“I really just thought it was a good way to carry on her memory and develop a community event at the same time,” Ensor said.

With help from the triathlon, the Emily Schindler Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to select graduating seniors on the SPY swim team who most exemplify Emily’s qualities of team spirit and kindness.

Seven years after the start of the triathlon, Ensor is in graduate school at the University of Maryland. However, the triathlon still continues each year with help from the Schindler’s and co-chair Hope Adams.

In March, the Schindlers spoke to Patch about how much Ensor means to them. Jane Schindler said she would never be able to thank him enough for carrying on her daughter’s memory. Ensor said the feeling of admiration was mutual.

“I just love the Schindlers and I know they say I have done so much for them, but really they have done a lot for me,” Ensor said. “I can never repay them for how they have treated me over the years.”

To read more about the Emily Schindler Memorial Triathlon, click here.