Read or watch local stories featuring the Swim Across America-Charlotte community to learn about their impact. Learn more about the event and beneficiary, Levine Cancer Institute and Levine Children’s Hospital, at swimacrossamerica.org/charlotte.
Read or watch local stories featuring the Swim Across America-Chicago community to learn about their impact. Learn more about the event and beneficiary, Rush Medical Center, at swimacrossamerica.org/chicago.
Read or watch local stories featuring the Swim Across America-Nassau/Suffolk community to learn about their impact. Learn more about the event and beneficiaries at swimacrossamerica.org/ns.
Read or watch local stories featuring the Swim Across America-Long Island Sound community to learn about their impact. Learn more about the event and beneficiaries, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Columbia University Cancer Center, Cancer Support Team, and Weill Cornell Medical Center, at swimacrossamerica.org/long_island.
Read or watch local stories featuring the Swim Across America-Nantucket community to learn about their impact. Learn more about the event and beneficiaries, Nantucket Cottage Hospital, Palliative and Supportive Care of Nantucket, and Mass General Cancer Center, at swimacrossamerica.org/nantucket.
Read or watch local stories featuring the Swim Across America-Motor City Mile community to learn about their impact. Learn more about the event and beneficiary, Rogel Cancer Center, at swimacrossamerica.org/detroit.
Read or watch local stories featuring the Swim Across America – Fairfield County community to learn about their impact. Learn more about the event and beneficiary, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, at swimacrossamerica.org/fc.
1-Mile Swim and 100M Dolphin Dash Take Place December 7 at Daytona International Speedway
CLASH Endurance® and Swim Across America are thrilled to announce a new charity swim in Lake Lloyd, located in the infield of the iconic Daytona International Speedway® on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. Participants of all ages will have the opportunity to swim alongside notable Olympians in an inspirational one-mile swim or a 100-meter Dolphin Dash with fundraising for critical cancer research as their top priority. Funds raised will support Swim Across America’s breakthrough pediatric cancer grants with its beneficiaries and CLASH Endurance’s philanthropic partner The NASCAR Foundation.
Swim Across America, founded in 1987, hosts 24 annual open-water swims from Nantucket to under the Golden Gate Bridge, and hundreds and pool swims each year that fund cancer research and patient programs, raising more than $100M to date. Swim Across America has funded transformative trials that led to the FDA-approved immunotherapy cancer medications Keytruda, Opdivo, Yervoy and Tecentriq. The organization has also supported Memorial Sloan Kettering’s landmark trials including the recent Phase II clinical trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine showing an 80% success rate treating MMRd cancers with immunotherapy alone. Swim Across America also recently awarded the first-of-their-kind gene editing innovation grants to Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to advance safer, more effective targeted treatments.
“Swim Across America, CLASH Endurance and The NASCAR Foundation joining together makes so much sense as The NASCAR Foundation helps so many kids who are battling cancer,” commented Rob Butcher, CEO of Swim Across America. “To have a Swim Across America charity event in Daytona on the CLASH Endurance Family Weekend means we will make even bigger waves together in the fight against cancer.”
The NASCAR Foundation is a leading charity that works to improve the lives of children who need it most in NASCAR racing communities through the Speediatrics Children’s Fund and the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. Serving as a designated 4-Star Charity by Charity Navigator for its strong financial health and ongoing accountability and transparency, it has contributed more than $50 Million to impact the lives of more than 1.7 million children nationwide since 2006.
“We are excited to be a part of the new Swim Across America swim during the CLASH Endurance weekend at Daytona International Speedway. We truly appreciate the many years of support from our friends at CLASH, and it is a privilege to team up again to help improve the health and well-being of kids across the country and in our race communities,” said Nichole Krieger, vice president and executive director of The NASCAR Foundation.
On December 7, when hundreds of swimmers and volunteers dive into Lake Lloyd, one-mile swimmers will be required to raise at least $400 by event day; swimmers under 18 will raise a minimum of $200; Dolphin Dash participants can register for $50 and have no fundraising minimum. To register as a swimmer or a volunteer, visit swimacrossamerica.org/daytona.
CLASH Endurance CEO Bill Christy says, “We are proud to collaborate with Swim Across America which continues to make a lasting impact in the cancer community. This is a cause that has touched all our lives, and we are honored to further support the fight at one of our flagship event weekends.”
Each December when much of the country battles snow, more than 3,000 participants ranging in age from four to 80+ will take on the speedway through a variety of events including a 5K, kids’ triathlon, duathlon, aquabike, triathlons, Test Track and Redline Relay. CLASH Endurance strives to provide a festival-style weekend, which in addition to free activities for spectators and athletes alike, include a wellness expo, food trucks, beer/wine garden and much more. The weekend kicks off with a festive “Jingle Jog 5K” on Friday evening with a start and finish at ONEDaytona. Participants, including those in jogging strollers, will experience Florida’s “Magic of Lights” holiday display taking them under the iconic grandstands of the speedway. The Swim Across America 1-mile swim and Dolphin Dash will help cap-off the weekend on Sunday, December 7.
“We have swum in some incredible venues and Daytona International Speedway is certainly one of the most iconic,” noted Olympic swimmer and Swim Across America Ambassador Rowdy Gaines. “To have a Swim Across America charity swim in Daytona is going to be extra special – I will definitely be there!”
CLASH Endurance® is an innovative endurance event company led by athletes with a passion to provide exceptional race experiences at iconic speedways across the U.S. CLASH embraces inclusion and welcomes athletes of all ages and abilities, from elite professionals to first-time participants. The popular CLASH Endurance DAYTONA event is held at the Daytona International Speedway®, home of ‘The Great American Race”- the Daytona 500, and has been featured on NBC and Fox Sports 1/2. Each February, the Daytona Beach Half Marathon & 5K takes athletes on a scenic tour of Daytona and its numerous landmarks and attractions. In addition, CLASH Endurance Miami in March continues to draw a decorated pro field, collegiate athletes from dozens of prestigious universities and weekend warriors for a challenging course at the historic Homestead-Miami Speedway®. Follow The NASCAR Foundation on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/NASCARFoundation or on X at @NASCAR_FDN. For more information visitclashendurance.com.
Swim Across America hosts open water and pool swims in numerous communities nationwide, from Nantucket to under San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. More than 150 Olympians swim with the organization, including Michael Phelps, Kate Douglass, and Missy Franklin. The organization supports more than 60 cancer research projects annually and has ten named Swim Across America Labs at major institutions nationwide. To learn more, visit swimacrossamerica.org or follow on social media @SwimAcrossAmerica on Facebook and @SAASwim on Instagram.
Read or watch local stories featuring the Swim Across America – Tampa community to learn about their impact. Learn more about the event and beneficiary, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, at swimacrossamerica.org/tampa.
The Promising Study Found that 80% of Patients with Mismatch Repair-Deficient (MMRd) Solid Tumors Treated with Immunotherapy Avoided Surgery
The New England Journal of Medicinepublished a paper on April 27, 2025, that presents exciting new results from a clinical trial led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) gastrointestinal oncologists Andrea Cercek, MD, and Luis Diaz Jr., MD, that demonstrates how immunotherapy alone can help patients with MMRd cancers avoid surgery and preserve their quality of life. The results, presented simultaneously at the 2025 American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, showed that 80% of patients with several types of cancer treated with immunotherapy did not require surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy after six months of treatment with immunotherapy alone. Swim Across America awarded grants for the early-stage research and continues to award grants for the ongoing clinical trial.
Andrea Cercek, M.D., gastrointestinal oncologist and co-director of the Center for Young Onset Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Mismatch repair deficiency (MMRd) in cancer refers to a situation where tumor cells have defective mismatch repair (MMR) proteins, essential for correcting DNA errors during cell replication. This deficiency leads to the accumulation of mutations, including microsatellite instability (MSI), making tumors more prone to be recognized by the immune system. MMRd status is a significant factor in cancer treatment, particularly for immunotherapy, as it can predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors.
The standard of care for many cancers that have this specific MMRd genetic mutation has been surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Still, the patients who responded positively to this clinical trial did not require surgery to remove an organ and did not experience chemotherapy or radiation, which improved their quality of life. This trial is the first time that immunotherapy has been shown to replace surgery for a variety of solid tumors.
“This study shows that immunotherapy can replace surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for mismatch repair-deficient solid tumors, which could help patients preserve their organs and avoid the harsh side effects of chemo and radiation,” said Andrea Cercek, M.D., gastrointestinal oncologist and co-director of the Center for Young Onset Colorectal and Gastrointestinal Cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. “Preserving a patient’s quality of life, while also successfully achieving positive results in eliminating their cancer, is the best possible outcome. They can return to their daily routines and maintain their independence.”
Luis Diaz, M.D., gastrointestinal oncologist and Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
This phase 2 trial is an extension of a groundbreaking study, also funded in part by Swim Across America, in which all rectal cancer patients treated with the immunotherapy dostarlimab experienced a complete clinical response, meaning their tumors disappeared. This was the first time ever that a clinical trial had a 100% positive response rate.
The updated trial included 103 patients with stage 1-3 cancer; 49 with rectal cancer; and 54 with non-rectal cancers, including gastroesophageal, hepatobiliary, colon, genitourinary, and gynecologic. Drs. Cercek and Diaz noted that the 80% response rate in this expanded clinical trial is very exciting for these types of cancer.
“Grants provided by Swim Across America were critical to our initial study and advancing this trial to phase 2,” said Luis Diaz, M.D., gastrointestinal oncologist and Head of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Founded in 1987, Swim Across America has raised more than $100 million to fight cancer. In its 38 years of making waves, thousands of volunteers and Olympians have swum the circumference of the earth three times uniting a movement to fight cancer that has created a groundswell of support spanning all generations. Today, more than 24 communities across the U.S. hold charity swims each year, which support innovative cancer research, detection, and patient programs.
Drs. Andrea Cercek and Luis Diaz spoke at the 2024 Swim Across America – Long Island Sound open water swim
Swim Across America’s funding of clinical trials on a national level has helped contribute to four FDA-approved life-saving immunotherapy cancer treatments: Yervoy, Opdivo, Tecentriq, and Keytruda. Swim Across America awards grant to more than 60 projects each year and there are ten named Swim Across America Labs at major institutions.
In addition to Swim Across America grants, this trial received funding from the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Haystack Oncology, and Stand Up To Cancer. MSK also acknowledges support from GSK, whose PD-1 blockade Jemperli (dostarlimab), represents a promising advancement in the treatment of patients.
For more information and to inquire about eligibility for this clinical trial, talk to your oncologist or call MSK at 646-888-4189. You may also reach to info@swimacrossamerica.org and we will help guide you.
Swim Across America 