Swim Across America, the national nonprofit organization that makes waves to fight cancer through charity swims across the U.S., will host its 5th annual Swim Across America – Carolina Pool Team Relay Swim on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at the UNC Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill. Participants take part in fun team relays to raise funds in support of the swim’s local beneficiary UNC Lineberger Cancer Center. Those who cannot make the event in person can participate virtually through SAA My Way. Register to swim, volunteer or donate at swimacrossamerica.org/carolina.

The Swim Across America – Carolina pool swim will also honor Sue Walsh – one of the University of North Carolina’s most decorated athletes and one of the swimming community’s most determined cancer fighters.  

Sue Walsh is captain of the Swim Across America Team Tar Heel, and is already the event’s No. 1 individual fundraiser, with more than $56,287 raised for this year’s swim.

For Sue Walsh, swimming and cancer research have become inseparable.

A long-time Swim Across America supporter, Sue was introduced to the organization by her 1980 Olympic teammate Craig Beardsley. What began as a way for Sue to use the sport she loved to give back, became deeply personal after cancer repeatedly touched her family and then her own life. In 2010, Sue lost her mother, Joan, to melanoma. In 2019, Sue was diagnosed herself with colon cancer. She underwent surgery and was initially declared cancer-free, but in 2022 scans revealed new lesions and she was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer and has been fighting ever since.

Rather than stepping away from the pool, Sue became even more committed to using swimming to help fund better treatments for herself and others.

“Throughout the years, swimming has given me so much joy,” Sue Walsh noted. She has described Swim Across America as a natural way to direct that lifelong passion toward finding better treatments for cancer.

Sue Walsh’s swimming résumé is extraordinary. She was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team, won two medals at the 1982 World Aquatics Championships, and during her collegiate career at UNC became a 10-time national champion and three-time Most Outstanding Swimmer at the ACC Championships. She was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 2003 and continued competing in masters swimming, setting six age-group world records at the 2007 U.S. Masters Swimming Championships.

Her connection to Chapel Hill also helped give birth to the Swim Across America – Carolina event itself. After her cancer returned, Sue began talking with Swim Across America CEO Rob Butcher and UNC Head Swimming and Diving Coach Mark Gangloff about bringing a pool swim to Koury Natatorium.

The first Swim Across America – Carolina event was held in 2022. The community’s impact has continued to grow, raising more than $570,000 to fight cancer. 

The September 26 Swim Across America – Carolina Team Relay Pool Swim is designed so that competitive swimmers, recreational swimmers, alumni, families and community members can all participate together. For more information, to join a team, participate virtually or donate to Swim Across America – Carolina, visit swimacrossamerica.org/carolina.