Category: olympians

Michael Phelps Returns to Pool To Support Ms. Cathy and Swim Across America

Posted on Posted in #MakingWavesToFightCancer, Events, Grant, News, olympians, Pool Swims, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , Leave a comment

Swim Across America partnered with the Michael Phelps Foundation for an inspiring charity swim honoring Michael’s learn-to-swim coach and cancer survivor, Cathy Bennett. The event in Mesa, Arizona raised over $55,000 that will fund a cancer research project at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore.

Bennett, whom Phelps affectionately refers to as Ms. Cathy, is the Program Director of the Michael Phelps Foundation where she oversees the Foundation’s signature program – IM – which provides learn-to-swim, recreational aquatic activities, organized swim instruction, as well as health, wellness, and goal-setting programming.

Phelps, the most decorated swimmer in World Championships history and 28-time Olympic medalist, retired from competitive swimming in 2016.

Notable attendees included Dr. Bill Nelson, chief of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, three-time Olympian Allison Schmitt (2008, 2012, 2016), 2016 Olympic head coach and Arizona State University head coach Bob Bowman, and members of the ASU swim team.

PHOTOS FROM THE SWIM ACROSS AMERICA / MICHAEL PHELPS FOUNDATION POOL SWIM

 

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MEDIA COVERAGE

USA TODAY

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NBC-12 

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The Best of Swim Across America Olympians (2019)

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, olympians, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

We appreciate the support of all the Olympians and special guests who have donated their time to support the SAA cause in 2019. These Olympians have attended our swims and special events generating awareness and raising donations for our beneficiaries. Thanks for all you do for SAA!

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – HOUSTON

Camille Adams, Ricky Berens

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SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – Fairfield County

Cristina Teuscher and Craig Beardsley

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SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – BOSTON

Eric Wunderlich, Alex Meyer and Janel Jorgensen McArdle

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SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – DETROIT

Peter Vanderkaay and Chris Thompson

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SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – CHARLESTON-KIAWAH

Hannah Aspden, Steve Gregg and Jenny Thompson

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – CHICAGO

Tom Beeri, Dave Sims, Kat Simonovic and Sebastian Rousseau

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SAA – LONG ISLAND SOUND

Cristina Teuscher and Katie Meili

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SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – ST. LOUIS

Ryan Berube, Ryan Held and Mallory Comerford

 

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – DENVER

      • Ashley Twichell,

    George DiCarlo, Haley Anderson, Kara Lynn Joyce, Lindsey Mintenko, Missy Franklin, Scott Usher, Susan von der Lippe

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – NANTUCKET

Craig Beardsley

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SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – RHODE ISLAND

Elizabeth Beisel

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SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – SEATTLE

Nathan Adrian, Mary Wayte Bradburne, Emily Silver

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – BALTIMORE

Theresa Andrews, McClain Hermes, Brenda Borgh Bartlett

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – SAN FRANCISCO

Heather Petri, Dana Kirk, Ericka Lorenz, Kristy Kowal, Susan Heon-Preston, Staciana Stitts Winfield, Mike Bruner, John Moffet, Nicolle Payne,  Rada Owen, Ashley Whitney and Christine Magnuson

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – CHARLOTTE

Lauren Perdue, Hannah Aspden, Karlee Bispo, Madison Kennedy

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – ATLANTA

Missy Franklin, McClain Hermes, Steve Lundquist, Maritza Correia McClendon, Megan Neyer, Amanda Weir, Peter Wright, Nei-Kuan Chia,  Eric Wunderlich, Neil Versfeld, Andrew Gammell, Camille Adams, Paige Northcutt

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – DALLAS

Ryan Berube, Andrea Hayes Dickson and Jim Montgomery

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – SMAC OUT CANCER POOL SWIM

Susan Heon-Preston, Kristy Kowal and Mike Bruner

MICHAEL PHELPS & SWIM ACROSS AMERICA CHARITY SWIM

Michael Phelps, Allison Schmidt, Craig Beardsley, Bob Bowman

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA FAMILY TREE (OCTOBER 2019)

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Family Tree, Fundraising, Labs, News, olympians, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

SAA Family Tree is a monthly focus on stories that display the impact all the members of the Swim Across America family have both locally and nationally. If you have a story or link you’d like to share, please send here.

 

Swim Across America

Learn how to Swim to Save a Life. This Charity Raised Nearly $100 million to Directly Fund Therapies to Defeat Cancer. A Conversation with Swim Across America’s Rob Butcher and Board Chair Pam Ryan from Goldman Sachs

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SAA – Richmond

  • SAA-Richmond Event Director Jay Peluso and Dr. Santiago Lima of VCU Massey Cancer Center promoted the swim on WTVR

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SAA – Atlanta

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SAA – Denver

  • Swim Across America CEO Rob Butcher and Team Captain Patty Waldron appeared on FOX 46

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SAA – San Francisco Bay

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SAA – Baltimore

  • With yearly swim, Mt. Hebron High junior raises money for cancer research at Magothy River event (Baltimore Sun)

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  • Dr. Jonathan Webster of Johns Hopkins and Patient Ambassador Vanessa Brandon promoted Swim Across America on Midday Maryland

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SAA – Dallas

  • North Texas Swimmers Raise Money for Local Cancer Research (NBC DFW)Screen Shot 2019-10-30 at 10.23.08 AM

 

  • Lake Ray Hubbard swim event helps raise money for cancer research (FOX 4 DFW)

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SAA – St. Louis

  • Swim Across America CEO Rob Butcher and champion swimmer Mallory Comerford promoted the upcoming swim on FOX 2!

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SAA – Catalina Relay Team

  • The six relay swimmers representing SAA crushed their 54-mile relay swim this September! It only took them 28 hours and they are now the 11th team EVER to complete this swim around Catalina Island! Not to mention they have raised over $60,000!

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SAA – Rhode Island

  • A Special Message on behalf of SAA -Rhode Island from Olympian Elizabeth Beisel and Providence College Coach John O’Neill

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SAA FAMILY TREE (JULY 2019)

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Family Tree, Fundraising, Labs, News, olympians, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

SAA Family Tree is a monthly focus on stories that display the impact all the members of the Swim Across America family have both locally and nationally. If you have a story or link you’d like to share, please send here.

 

SAA – Baltimore

SAA – Denver

SAA – Boston

SAA – Nantucket

  • Celebrate Our Impact event at Nantucket Cottage Hospital

    SAA – Fairfield County

    • Greenwich shows support for Swim Across America Fairfield County (Greenwich Time)

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SAA FAMILY TREE (MAY 2019)

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Family Tree, Fundraising, Labs, News, olympians, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

SAA Family Tree is a monthly focus on stories that display the impact all the members of the Swim Across America family have both locally and nationally. If you have a story or link you’d like to share, please send here.

 

SAA – Baltimore

SAA – St. Louis

SAA – Houston

SAA – Atlanta

 

 

Best of 2018 Beneficiary Check Presentations

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, chicago, Events, Fundraising, Grant, Labs, Long Island Sound, olympians, SAA on the Scene, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Swim Across America celebrated the end of the year across the country by presenting checks to our esteemed beneficiaries. Here is a collection of smiling faces as the hard fundraising work is now seeing its impact multiplied in the fight against cancer.

SAA – Tampa at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and Moffit Cancer Center

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SAA – Chicago at Rush University Medical Center

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SAA – Charlotte at Levine Cancer Institute

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SAA – Baltimore at Johns Hopkins Medicine

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SAA – Atlanta at Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta 

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SAA – Greenwich at Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy

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SAA – Nantucket at Nantucket Cottage Hospital 

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SAA – Seattle at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

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SAA – San Francisco at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital

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SAA – Denver at Children’s Hospital Colorado

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SAA On the Scene – November 2018

Posted on Posted in olympians, Pool Swims, SAA on the Scene, san francisco, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

As the 2018 Open Water season comes to an end, SAA National members have been at some great events around the country spreading the SAA mission. Check them out and contact us if you have an event you’d like to have featured!

Golden Goggles Award Ceremony (New York, NY – November 19, 2018)

Swim Across America’s own and Olympian Craig Beardsley represented SAA at the 2018 Golden Goggles Awards in New York. Craig along with 4-time Olympic Medalist Maya Dirado, presented the Coach of the Year Award!

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World Open Water Swimming Association Conference (San Francisco, CA – November 10, 2018)

SAA’s Director of Events Megan Melgaard and San Francisco Bay Swim Co-Event Director Susan Helmrich presented “Swimming for Good” and “Why I Swim” on behalf of Swim Across America at the WOWSA Conference held at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

 

 

Santa Barbara Pool Swim (Santa Barbara, CA – November 4, 2018)

The inaugural “SB Swims for a Cure” pool swim was held at the Los Banos del Mar Pool in Santa Barbara, California. The event doubled their fundraising goal in just it’s first year, raising over $11,400! SAA’s own Megan Melgaard and Craig Beardsley were able to attend the event and give some pointers to the swimmers! If you’re interesting in starting a pool swim contact Craig Beardsley!

 

Swim Across America Honored at the Value-Based Cancer Care Summit

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Olympians Craig Beardsley, Rowdy Gaines and Steve Lundquist

The 8th annual Value Based Cancer Care Summit brought together more than 300 thought leaders in academic, government, pharmaceutical and biotech. Change and innovation are happening at a fast pace in the field of healthcare and especially oncology. The purpose of the two-day summit was to create an active dialogue among the stakeholders in oncology care that ultimately will improve the quality of patient care.

Swim Across America, which has granted over $80 million dollars into cancer research, clinical trials and prevention, was selected as the beneficiary for the summit. Several of the oncologists shared during panel discussions the importance of Swim Across America’s early stage grant funding and how SAA’s funding has helped lead to breakthroughs and FDA approvals of new immunotherapy treatments.

In a personal testimonial, Dr. Jedd Wolchok of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center eloquently shared that SAA grant funding has helpeIMG_0279.JPGd numerous young investigators move forward their research ideas, many of whom are immigrants and are the pioneers in immunotherapy and personalized medicine.

Olympian and SAA ambassador Rowdy Gaines attended the summit giving a keynote talk about the 1980 Olympic boycott and how he persevered against the odds to win three gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic games. Rowdy also shared how cancer has touched his life, losing his stepfather and sister to the disease.

The evening reception was attended by the Swim Across America Board of Directors, Olympians Steve Lundquist and Craig Beardsley, and the leaders from our SAA-Long Island Sound and SAA-Fairfield County charity swims. The reception was dedicated to Swim Across America as we shared stories from survivors, volunteers, and participants.

It was an honor for Swim Across America contributions to be recognized and it was meaningful to be part of these important discussions as we strengthened our relationships and lifted our goodwill.

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SAA FAMILY TREE (OCTOBER 2018)

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Family Tree, Fundraising, Labs, News, olympians, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

SAA Family Tree is a monthly focus on stories that display the impact all the members of the Swim Across America family have both locally and nationally. If you have a story or link you’d like to share, please send here.

 

SAA – Charleston-Kiawah

  • Event Director Brad Johnson promoted our 2nd annual swim on Kiawah Island Golf Resort.

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SAA – Seattle

SAA – Atlanta

  • This 11Alive Recap of the Atlanta swim and ‘Amazing’ Grace Bunke’s legacy at the swim is a fitting tribute: “Hope has no finish line.”Screen Shot 2018-10-17 at 2.30.26 PM

SAA – Baltimore

SAA – Charlotte

  • SAA CEO Rob Butcher donned the wetsuit on WCCB News Rising.Screen Shot 2018-10-17 at 2.22.01 PM
  • SAA Director of Marketing Ryan Baucom and Dr. Edward Copelan of Levine Cancer Institute talked all things SAA on Charlotte Today.38280536_2204571959556269_4391243862727720960_n

SAA – Richmond

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The Best of Swim Across America Olympians (2018)

Posted on Posted in #DefeatCancer, olympians, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

We appreciate the support of all the Olympians who have donated their time to support the SAA cause in 2018. These Olympians have attended our swims and special events generating awareness and raising donations for our beneficiaries. Thanks for all you do for SAA!

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – TAMPA

Charlie Houchin, Eric Wunderlich, Steve Lindquist

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – GREENWICH-STAMFORD

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Charlie Houchin, Cristina Teuscher and Craig Beardsley at SAA – Greenwich-Stamford

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – BOSTON

Doug Gjertsen, Erik Vendt, Eric Wunderlich, Alex Meyer, Craig Beardsley and Janel Jorgensen McArdle

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – CHARLESTON-KIAWAH

Kristy Kowal
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SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – CHICAGO

Charlie Houchin and Sebastian Rousseau

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SAA – LONG ISLAND SOUND (POOL SWIM)

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Cristina Teuscher and Long Island Sound swimmers

SAA – SOUND TO COVE

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Olympians Craig Beardsley and Steve Lundquist with the SAA – Nassau Suffolk team

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – ST. LOUIS

Ryan Berube, Ryan Held and Mark Gangloff

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – DENVER

Missy Franklin, Elizabeth Beisel, George DiCarlo, Susan Bartholomew-Williams, Susan von der Lippe, Lindsay Benko Mintenko, Mike Mintenko, Andrew Gemmell, Heather Petri, Kara Lynn Joyce, Brickelle Bro, Mara Abbott, Ashley Whitney, Katie Huff and Doug Gjertsen

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – RHODE ISLAND

Elizabeth Beisel, Craig Beardsley, Janel Jorgensen McArdle and Clara Walker

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – SEATTLE

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Mary Wayte Bradburne with some Kids Splash swimmers

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – SAN FRANCISCO

Heather Petri, Dana Kirk, Ericka Lorenz, Susan Heon-Preston, Cathy Carr West, Staciana Stitts Winfield, Mike Bruner, Jessica Steffens, Annika Dries, Mark Henderson, Rada Owen, Mike Kiedel, Brikelle Bro, and Christine Magnuson

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – CHARLOTTE

Charlie Houchin, Lauren Perdue, Hannah Aspden, Marko Blazevski, Tharon Drake and Karlee Bispo

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – ATLANTA

Missy Franklin, Geoff Gaberino, Doug Gjertsen, Bobby Hackett, McClain Hermes, Katie Hoff, Kara Lynn Joyce, Kristy Kowal, Steve Lundquist, Maritza Correia McClendon, Megan Neyer, Amanda Weir, Ashley Whitney, Peter Wright, Nei-Kuan Chia, Ramon Valle, Hali Flickinger and Shannon Vreeland.

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – DALLAS

Dana Vollmer, Ryan Berube, Charlie Houchin and Jim Montgomery

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – SMAC OUT CANCER POOL SWIM

Susan Heon-Preston, Craig Beardsley and Mike Bruner

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