The Best of Swim Across America Olympians (2017)

Posted on October 6, 2017October 9, 2017 Posted in #DefeatCancer, olympians, UncategorizedTagged elizabeth beisel, missy franklin, nathan adrianLeave a comment

We appreciate the support of Olympians who have donated their time to support the SAA cause in 2017. 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 – SMAC OUT CANCER POOL SWIM

34363146491_5a2c3de76d_k — Olympian attendees included Mike Bruner, Susan Heon-Preston, Mark Preston, Ellen Estes, Emily Silver, Dana Kirk, Craig Beardsley

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – BOSTON

35750346681_35504e0035_k — Janel Jorgensen McArdle, Heather Petri and Kristy Kowal participate in beneficiary visit

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – MUDPUPPIES MEMORIAL POOL SWIM

image2-4 — Ryan Held joined the popular pool swim at Triangle Aquatic Center

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – KIAWAH ISLAND

36029919011_839e4203a5_k — Carlton Bruner, Ashley Whitney & Steve Lundquist pose with a youth swimmer

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – CHICAGO

35525052604_2f30041765_k — Kendra Berner Yoch, Katherine Starr, Jilen Siroky Bouwer and Tom Beeri

SAA – LONG ISLAND SOUND (NYAC TRAVERS ISLAND POOL SWIM)

2O2A1440 — Kim Vandenberg gives a swim clinic

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – NANTUCKET

36945645881_666b20b5f3_k — Samantha Arsenault Livingstone with junior WaveMakers

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – ST. LOUIS

36919664105_d091aaab51_k — Kara Lynn Joyce with a fan

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – RHODE ISLAND

36913823150_9f1565876f_k — Craig Beardsley, Rhode Islander Elizabeth Beisel, Alex Meyer, and Clara Walker

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – SEATTLE

Nathan Adrian on #WhyISwim for Team Benoit

36724841684_06f4b6edc6_k — Mary Wayte with the Kids Splash participants

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – BALTIMORE

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – SAN FRANCISCO

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – CHARLOTTE

Screen Shot 2017-10-06 at 2.44.49 PM — Ricky Berens and family all participated in the inaugural event

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – ATLANTA

21767993_1291291537664638_1216459508639702313_n-2 — Craig Beardsley, Carlton Bruner, Nei-Kuan Chia, Missy Franklin, Geoff Gaberino, Doug Gjertsen, Joe Hudepohl, Kristy Kowal, Steve Lundquist, Megan Neyer, Heather Petri, Daniel Watters, Amanda Weir, Eric Wunderlich and Ashley Whitney all joined the SAA – Atlanta fun in 2017

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – DALLAS

37494636001_6ababbb89b_k — Ryan Berube and our SAA – Dallas mascot sporting gold

SAA FAMILY TREE (2017 RECAP)

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Family Tree, Fundraising, Labs, News, olympians, UncategorizedTagged cancer, News, olympians, swim across americaLeave a comment

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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 – Atlanta

A “Perfect Day” recap video of Grace Bunke’s inspiring SAA-Atlanta weekend!

SAA – Charlotte

Spectrum News had all the video highlights of the inaugural SAA-Charlotte featuring Levine Cancer Institute’s Dr. Jonathan Gerber and Queens University swimmer and cancer survivor Alex Marshall.
Patty Waldron and her team of Masters Swimmers go ‘out of the box’ to raise money for Levine Cancer Center.

SAA – San Francisco Bay Area

3-year old Seth Lurie is battling rhabdomyosarcoma. Seth and his dad came to SAA – San Francisco and this is what he thinks of cancer.

SAA – Baltimore

Emma and Sammy Rocks of Team Rock On joined Wyatt Eberhart on Midday Maryland!

SAA – St. Louis

John Traube was the top fundraiser with over $26K raised for SAA – St. Louis. Find out why his story is such an inspiration to us at SAA!

SAA – Rhode Island

Olympian Elizabeth Beisel joined the Rhode Island swim this year and made a big splash with all the college swimmers and hospital patients alike!

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SAA – Dallas

Keller High Swimmers and Olympian Ryan Berube interviewed on WFAA ABC-8
Danielle Dennis, an Ovarian cancer survivor, tells her “Why I Swim” story.
The story of Quinn, the 165-Pound Therapy Dog and SAA Supporter!

SAA – Seattle

Another big splash for SAA – Seattle as featured by Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA COMPLETES CATALINA CHANNEL DOUBLE CROSSING

Posted on August 8, 2017August 8, 2017 Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Fundraising, UncategorizedTagged catalina channel relay, marathon swimmingLeave a comment

Congrats to the 6 swimmers and support crew for the 9th double crossing since 1981 of the Catalina Channel. What an amazing feat! Here’s to the 2017 Swim Across America David Yudovin Memorial Relay in honor of cancer research. Thank you to all who encouraged and cheered along the way! Watch the video below and check out all the great pics!

VIDEO

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Swim Across America in Primetime

Posted on August 8, 2017August 8, 2017 Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

Members of the Swim Across America family have been hitting the local airwaves this summer to promote our mission of swimming to fight cancer. Check out the highlights from Atlanta, Kiawah and Long Island Sound!

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – ATLANTA

SAA-Atlanta Event Director Megan Melgaard and 1984 Olympian Steve Lundquist on CBS 46

SAA-Atlanta Swimmer Grace Bunke on Fox 5

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – KIAWAH ISLAND

SAA Director of Marketing Ryan Baucom on NEWS 2

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – LONG ISLAND SOUND

SAA-LIS Event Director Tony Sibio and Jeremy and Josh Glantz on lohud

Why I Swim & Team Stacey

Posted on August 8, 2017 Posted in UncategorizedLeave a comment

20638755_10154668022746176_3369064698719311473_n One of the special moments when you participate with Swim Across America is meeting and hearing the doctors, and signing their coats as part of our WHY I SWIM experience. Dr. Richard Gorlick of University of Texas MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital–supported by TEAM STACEY proudly wears his coat in the hospital.

TEAM STACEY participated in the Sound to Cove swim for the ninth year in memory of Stacey Rose Leondis. This year saw TEAM STACEY reach new fundraising heights with over $175,000 raised to put them on the top of the national leaderboard. Congratulations for everything TEAM STACEY is accomplishing to help fight this dreaded disease.

TEAM STACEY 2017

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SAA EVENT DIRECTORS ARE AWE-INSPIRING

Posted on July 26, 2017August 2, 2017 Posted in #DefeatCancer, Events, Fundraising, News, SAA on the Scene, UncategorizedTagged kitty tetreault, saa - boston, saa - san francisco, susan helmrichLeave a comment

Each Swim Across America Event Director is inspiring in their own way. It’s incredible to see the hard work of a couple get widespread recognition this month. We can’t think of a better group to feature. Don’t forget to thank your local Event Director today and sign up to volunteer to help!

SUSAN HELMRICH – SAA – SAN FRANCISCO BAY

KITTY TETREAULT – SAA – BOSTON/SAA – RHODE ISLAND

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ARTICLE FROM MASSGENERAL HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN

SAA – Long Island Sound Pool Swims Celebrate 25 Years of Making Waves

Posted on July 11, 2017July 26, 2017 Posted in #DefeatCancer, Long Island Sound, olympians, Pool Swims, SAA on the Scene, Swimming Tips, UncategorizedLeave a comment

SAA – Long Island Sound is excited to celebrate 25 years of making waves to fight cancer through pool swim and the annual open water swim. Check out all the great fundraising being done all summer!

NYAC Travers Island Pool Swim – July 7th

A great kickoff pool swim for the summer with 60 swimmers raising $60k to fight cancer. The night began with a swim clinic led by Kim Vandenberg (2008 Olympian) and Laura Sogar (World Champion medalist) with the kids! The night ended by honoring Kevin Carolan, NYAC pool director, coach and SAA-LIS and NYAC supporter with the Eugene P. Culligan award.

Westchester Country Club Pool Swim – July 15th

Orienta Beach Club Pool Swim – July 22nd

Chappaqua S&T Club Pool Swim – July 23rd

SAA Funding Contributes to FDA Approval of KEYTRUDA

Posted on June 7, 2017 Posted in #DefeatCancer, Fundraising, Labs, News, UncategorizedTagged dr. luis diaz, fda, Johns Hopkins, keytruda, merckLeave a comment

For the first time, the FDA has approved a drug—KEYTRUDA—for cancer-based disease genetics rather than the site of a tumor. KEYTRUDA now can be used for colon, pancreatic, stomach, ovarian and other cancers if genetic testing reveals defects in so-called mismatch repair. The clinical trials for KEYTRUDA were conducted at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute. The testimonial letter from Johns Hopkins acknowledges that in 2009, Swim Across America was the first organization to believe in the KEYTRUDA research project and provide grant funding for KEYTRUDA clinical trials. In total, over $2.6 million in proceeds from SAA—Baltimore have funded clinical trials and lifesaving research at Johns Hopkins.

Merck issued a press release quoting Swim Across America for providing grant funding for KEYTRUDA clinical trials that helped lead to FDA approval:

“Swim Across America’s mission is to help advance cancer research,” said Rob Butcher, CEO of Swim Across America. “We are honored that our organization supported some of the initial research conducted by Dr. Diaz and team, which has now contributed to the approval of KEYTRUDA for this new indication.”

As a Swim Across America supporter, it’s important you know the impact of our cause. Testimonials from our beneficiaries are published and we encourage you share them with your supporters.

REGISTER FOR AN SAA SWIM

DONATE TODAY SO WE CAN FUND MORE RESEARCH

unnamed-20 — Dr. Luis Diaz at SAA – Baltimore Open Water Swim

SAA On the Scene

Posted on June 7, 2017June 10, 2017 Posted in SAA on the Scene, UncategorizedTagged kickoff, saa - charlotte, saa - dallas, SAA on the SceneLeave a comment

As the 2017 Open Water season kicks into high gear, there have been some great kickoff events around the country. Scroll through to see members of the Swim Across America family having a great time and preparing to make waves in 2017.

SAA – Dallas (May 16th)

Team Pharma Phibians put on a fun happy hour fundraiser that raised $4,300!

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SAA – Greenwich-Stamford (May 22nd)

Top Greenwich-Stamford fundraisers and leaders spent a great afternoon at Yale University Cancer Center touring Dr. Samuel Katz’s lab and learning first-hand about his research into using RNA to treat blood cancers.

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SAA – Charlotte (June 1)

The inaugural event had a great night at Legion Brewing spreading the word about the SAA mission. A special thanks to Olympian Katie Meili, Madison Kennedy and Olympic Coach David Marsh & Team Elite for coming out to support us!

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SAA Debuts Under Armour WaveMaker gift for 2017

Posted on May 19, 2017January 18, 2021 Posted in #DefeatCancer, Corporate Partners, Fundraising, UncategorizedTagged fundraise, swim across america, Under Armour, WaveMaker2 Comments

Swim Across America is excited to celebrate our 30th Anniversary with an Under Armour-branded 1/4 zip pullover for all WaveMakers that raise at least $1,000.

This is your chance to go the extra mile and join the exclusive WaveMaker club. You’ll get the chance to show your SAA pride year-round with this all-weather pullover. Register today and set your fundraising goal to WaveMaker!

Fundraisers that hit their WaveMaker goal will also receive a $30 Finis gift card in honor of our 30th Anniversary and a WaveMaker car window decal as well. This is the year to set your goals higher to WaveMaker status!