NEW YORK-- On 9/11, firefighter Lance Ogren was taking an FDNY lieutenant's course on Staten Island when his swimming buddy - his beloved Bravest twin brother, Joseph - got the call to rush to the World Trade Center.
As Lance, too, headed to lower Manhattan, the towers fell, killing his brother.
Tomorrow, in honor of Joseph's memory, Lance will swim in a 17.5-mile race from Battery Park to Sandy Hook, N.J., organized by the Manhattan Island Foundation to help build the WTC Memorial.
It wasn't easy getting back in the water without his brother and best friend. They had received twin swim scholarships to St. Peter's Boys HS on Staten Island and worked as lifeguards together in Jersey.
"It was nearly five years before I really started to train again on a high level. I didn't realize it was that long, but it was. It was hard for me," said Ogren, 36, who is now a lieutenant at Ladder 25 on the Upper West Side.
"We did some triathlons together, we did some running. We swam all the time. We just really had the knack for it."
So far, Ogren has raised $4,500. All donations go through the Manhattan Island Foundation at www.nycswim.org.
Republished with permission of The New York Post.
