More than 900 Swimmers to Fight Cancer at 17th Annual Swim Across America – Rhode Island Open Water Swim

Posted on August 20, 2026August 25, 2026 Posted in UncategorizedTagged books, cancer, cancer research, college fundraising, college retirement, college swimming, fiction, fundraising, history, life, media, News, olympians, providence, rhode island, swim across america, swimming, writingLeave a comment

Nation’s Largest Swim Across America Event Will Honor Recently Retired Providence College Coach and Event Co-Founder John O’Neill; Proceeds Support Cancer Research at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island

Swim Across America, the national nonprofit that makes waves to fight cancer through charity swims across the U.S., will host the 17th annual Swim Across America – Rhode Island Open Water Swim on Saturday, Sept. 12, at Roger Wheeler State Beach, 100 Sand Hill Cove Road, in Narragansett. The event offers a quarter-mile, half-mile or 1-mile open water swim, plus the Kids Splash & Dash. Swimmer registration has reached capacity and closed early, with more than 900 swimmers registered. Volunteers are still needed, and donations and virtual participation through SAA My Way remain open. Proceeds support cancer research at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. To volunteer, donate or participate virtually, visit swimacrossamerica.org/rhodeisland.

This year’s swim carries added meaning. It will honor event co-founder John O’Neill, who retired this year after 36 seasons leading Providence College Swimming & Diving.

Established in 2010, the Rhode Island swim has raised more than $3 million for cancer research at Women & Infants’ Program in Women’s Oncology. It draws more than 1,000 swimmers and volunteers combined each year, including more swimmers than any other Swim Across America event, and is one of the largest charity open water swims in the country. It also attracts more than 20 collegiate swimming, diving and water polo teams — more than any other Swim Across America event — along with over a dozen age-group and high school teams. Masters swimmers, community members, cancer survivors, researchers, clinicians and caregivers are also part of the day.

Honoring Coach John O’Neill

O’Neill co-founded the Rhode Island swim with Swim Across America in 2010 and has served on its event committee ever since. Through his relationships with coaches and programs throughout New England, he recruited the college teams that now fill the beach each September. He also made the cause part of the culture of Providence College Swimming & Diving, which has raised over $550,000 of the more than $3 million the event has generated for cancer research.

“Coach O’Neill has been the heart of Swim Across America – Rhode Island since its inception,” said Douglas Sayles, event director of Swim Across America – Rhode Island. “He introduced generations of Providence College swimmers to this cause and brought New England coaches and swimming programs together around a shared purpose. Most of all, he has shown young athletes how they can use the sport they love to make a meaningful difference for families facing cancer. We’re grateful to John and glad this year’s swim can help celebrate his career.”

The Sept. 12 swim opens a full day honoring O’Neill. Swimmers, Providence College alumni, colleagues and friends will gather at Roger Wheeler State Beach in the morning, and a retirement reception hosted on campus by Providence College will follow that evening. Reception tickets are $40 and available at bit.ly/oneill-reception.

O’Neill’s reasons for helping start the swim were personal.

“Too many family members and friends have been lost to cancer and we wanted to do something that could help,” said O’Neill of his involvement with Swim Across America.

His commitment deepened as he supported Providence College swimmers who faced cancer themselves, including former student-athletes Colleen Lowell ’97 and Kara McCurdy ’22. McCurdy continued swimming at Providence after her treatment and later joined O’Neill and the Friars at the Rhode Island swim.

For O’Neill, bringing college swimmers together at Roger Wheeler State Beach has always been about more than one morning of swimming.

“Our Rhode Island Swim is unique with so many college participants involved,” O’Neill told Swimming World. “We hope that once the students graduate and relocate, they stay involved with Swim Across America no matter where their future takes them!”

O’Neill came to the sport as a Rhode Island swimmer himself. He swam for the Abbott Run Valley Club, the Cumberland-Lincoln Boys’ Club and Cumberland High School, where he earned All-State honors, and at Springfield College. He founded the Providence College swimming and diving program in 1984 and coached the Friars for 17 seasons, then spent five years as head coach at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He returned to Providence in 2007 and led the Friars for another 19 seasons. During his 36 seasons at Providence, nine of his student-athletes combined to win 20 individual event titles at the BIG EAST Championships.

Away from the college ranks, he coached age-group swimmers at Little Rhody Aquatic Club and Providence Aquatic Club, and directed swim camps in Rhode Island. O’Neill received the CSCAA Swim Across America Service Award in 2016. He was inducted into the Rhode Island Aquatic Hall of Fame in 1994 and received its Ellis Mayers Humanitarian Award in May 2026. Providence College has established the Cindy and John O’Neill Swimming and Diving Endowed Fund in honor of his career and his impact on generations of student-athletes.

About Swim Across America

Nationally, Swim Across America has raised more than $150 million for cancer research since its founding in 1987 and has helped fund clinical trials that contributed to the FDA-approved cancer immunotherapy medications Keytruda, Opdivo, Yervoy and Tecentriq. In the past year, Swim Across America funded a breakthrough clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering that showed immunotherapy alone could successfully treat certain types of cancer. The organization also recently awarded two first-of-its-kind gene editing innovation grants to the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, advancing novel CRISPR gene and base editing techniques used in targeted therapies, immunotherapies and cellular therapies. Swim Across America supports more than 60 cancer research projects annually, has eight named Swim Across America labs, and supports work at many of the nation’s leading cancer institutions.

Swim Across America, Inc. (SAA) is dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment through swimming-related events. With open water and pool swims in 27 communities across the United States – from Nantucket to under the Golden Gate Bridge – Swim Across America, along with the help of thousands of swimmers and volunteers nationwide, and past and current Olympians, is helping find better treatments and a cure for cancer through athleticism, community outreach and direct service. To learn more, visit swimacrossamerica.org.

Among Nearly 1,000 Swimmers Making Waves to Fight Cancer July 25, Mamaroneck’s Ryan Harrell Will Be One of Just 14 to Swim 10K Across Long Island Sound

Posted on July 16, 2026 Posted in UncategorizedTagged books, fiction, health, travel, writingLeave a comment

Longtime swimmer dedicates his 2026 swim to Mariah Aldridge, a 32-year-old mother with colon cancer, whose final journey home he helped make possible

LARCHMONT, N.Y., July 14, 2026 — When Ryan Harrell, 42, of Mamaroneck, New York, enters the water in Glen Cove, New York, on Saturday, July 25,he will be one of 14 swimmers attempting the 10k crossing of Long Island Sound as part of the 34th annual Swim Across America – Long Island Sound open water swim. As he swims toward the finish at the Larchmont Shore Club, Ryan will carry with him the memory of a young mother who passed away too soon from cancer, whose final wish he helped fulfill.

This year, Ryan is dedicating every stroke of that crossing to Mariah Aldridge, a 32-year-old mother with colon cancer, whose final wish was to return home to Albertville, Alabama, and spend her remaining time with family and friends. She had been receiving hospice care in Santa Ana, California, but complications from her illness prevented her from traveling commercially. Ryan learned of her situation through social media, and with the help of his employer Soar Jets, a private jet charter company, he was able to arrange a flight for Mariah. With support from her friends Joslyn Marie, Justin Nunley and Chris Young, the flight became possible. Mariah was able to leave California, return to Alabama and fulfill her wish of spending her final days with those she loved most.

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to help Mariah in her final wish of being surrounded by family and friends,” Ryan noted. “That experience changed me. In my 25th year swimming with Swim Across America, I am dedicating every stroke I take in her honor. While we lost Mariah to cancer, we didn’t lose the chance to know someone as extraordinary as her in this world. Her love endures, her memory lives on, and her spirit lives on in every life she touched, including mine.”

Mariah’s cancer battle underscores the urgent need for cancer research – and one Swim Across America is tackling with its support of critical cancer research with its beneficiaries Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, Weill Cornell Medicine and Cancer Support Team.

Since its first Westchester County swim in 1992, Swim Across America – Long Island Sound has raised more than $32 million for cancer research, care and patient support services in the New York City area for its local beneficiaries.

Following a record-breaking fundraising year last year, the 2026 goal is to raise $2.5 million. The open water swim is joined by eight community pool swims across Westchester County running June 26 through Aug. 1.

“Every year, our Swim Across America – Long Island Sound community reminds us that this event is about hope, action and the power of coming together,” said Jean Fufidio, event director of Swim Across America – Long Island Sound. “Whether someone swims 10K, 5K or 2K in Long Island Sound, joins a pool swim, participates virtually through SAA My Way, or comes out to volunteer on the land or water, every stroke and every dollar helps support the doctors, researchers and caregivers who are making breakthroughs in cancer care.”

The upcoming 2026 Swim Across America – Long Island Sound swim schedule in Westchester County, New York, includes: Coveleigh Club Pool Swim, Rye, Wednesday, July 15, 3 to 5:30 p.m.; Orienta Beach Club Pool Swim, Mamaroneck, Saturday, July 18, 6:15 to 9:30 a.m.; Chappaqua Swim & Tennis Club Pool Swim, Chappaqua, Sunday, July 19, 8 to 10:30 a.m.; Leewood Golf Club Pool Swim, Eastchester, Tuesday, July 21, 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.; Swim Across America – Long Island Sound open water swim on Saturday, July 25, in Larchmont; Larchmont Shore Club Half-Mile Pool Swim, Saturday, July 25, 8 to 9:30 a.m.; Scarsdale Golf Club Pool Swim, Hartsdale, Thursday, July 30, 4 to 6 p.m.; and Lake Isle Club Pool Swim, Eastchester, Saturday, Aug. 1, 7 to 9:30 a.m.

Those interested in swimming, donating or volunteering, including boaters, kayakers and paddleboarders at the July 25th open water swim or swimming at the pool swims, can register and support the cause at swimacrossamerica.org/longislandsound.

For Ryan, his connection to Swim Across America is 25 years in the making. He originally started swimming with Swim Across America in 2001, when he was a student at Iona Prep and swam with the Badger Swim Club. He joined the event in honor of Bill Weaver, a close family friend from New Rochelle who had pancreatic cancer. Ryan’s father, then principal of Davis Elementary School in New Rochelle, helped his teenage son learn how to fundraise by encouraging the school’s teachers and staff to contribute.

“I was incredibly fortunate to have my father help me raise money when it was entirely new to me,” Ryan said. “Mr. Weaver will forever be the reason I started this journey, but sadly, the list of people who need our support has continued to grow.”

Today, Ryan trains year-round with Team Masters under coach Dave Samuelsohn. His mother is a cancer survivor, and he has lost his best friend’s father and sister, whom he considered family, to the disease. He also swims for friends who are still undergoing treatment.

“I swim for those who are fighting this disease,” Ryan added. “My motivation is to swim to raise as much money as possible to help anyone currently facing this battle.” For Ryan, swimming across Long Island Sound is a way to transform heartbreak into action – one stroke and one donation at a time.

As Mariah’s story and the flight home have helped spread awareness, supporters have also rallied around Ryan’s Swim Across America fundraising. He has already raised more than $15,000, while his Team Masters collectively has raised close to $75,000, just in 2026. But there is still a need for more.

Nationally, Swim Across America has raised more than $150 million for cancer research since its founding in 1987 and has helped fund clinical trials that contributed to the FDA-approved cancer immunotherapy medications Keytruda, Opdivo, Yervoy and Tecentriq. In the past year, Swim Across America funded a breakthrough clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering that showed that immunotherapy alone could successfully treat certain types of cancer. The organization also recently awarded two first-of-its-kind gene editing innovation grants to the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, advancing novel CRISPR gene and base editing techniques used in targeted therapies, immunotherapies and cellular therapies. Swim Across America supports more than 60 cancer research projects annually, has eight named Swim Across America labs, and supports work at many of the nation’s leading cancer institutions.

To learn more about Swim Across America – Long Island Sound or to register to swim, volunteer or donate, visit swimacrossamerica.org/longislandsound. To support Ryan directly or Team Masters, visit swimacrossamerica.org/longislandsound and click on Ryan’s name or Team name.

Swim Across America, Inc. (SAA) is dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment through swimming-related events. With the help of hundreds of volunteers nationwide, and past and current Olympians, Swim Across America is helping find a cure for cancer through athleticism, community outreach and direct service. To learn more, visit swimacrossamerica.org/longislandsound, or follow on Facebook @SAALongIslandSound and Instagram @SAA_LIS.

Two Teens Take on Monumental Task of Running the Inaugural Swim Across America – Martha’s Vineyard Open Water Swim on July 18, 2026

Posted on July 14, 2026July 14, 2026 Posted in UncategorizedTagged books, cancer, health, reading, writing1 Comment

Swim Across America’s two newest event directors, Leah Thomson and Zoe Treitman, both residents of Martha’s Vineyard, are only 17-years-old and high school juniors. Thomson and Treitman were inspired to launch a Swim Across America event on their own island of Martha’s Vineyard after seeing last year’s Swim Across America – Nantucket open water swim raise $1 million to fight cancer. They believed Martha’s Vineyard could do the same – or better! After all, there has always been a friendly competition between the neighboring islands. The fundraising goal for the swim in its first year is $200,000.

For Leah Thomson, the cause is deeply personal. She was four years old when her grandmother, Susan Parker, her mom Rebekah’s mother, was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer and only five years old when her grandma passed away. Her great-aunt Aiko Nakamura also sadly lost her battle with cancer several years ago. Leah has other family members currently battling cancer and their fights have inspired her to jump in and help organize the swim in their honor. They include D.L., her grandfather’s second wife, who was diagnosed with lung cancer last year and is currently recovering well; her great-uncle Jonathan and great-aunt Ellie, who are each facing cancer diagnosis; and her long time tennis mentor, Jay Grossman, who sadly lost his battle with cancer this April.

“I was inspired to get involved with Swim Across America for my Grammy, for family members who are facing cancer and for my dear friend and coach Jay Grossman,” said Leah Thomson. “Swimming is nothing compared to the challenges our loved ones with cancer face. By helping put on this event, I can help make a difference and swim for those who can’t – and with my community’s support, I know it will help make a significant impact on cancer care on our island.”

Leah also noted that leading the Swim Across America open water swim has also given her a meaningful way to turn a challenge into action. “Swim Across America has introduced me to an entire family of brilliant, loving and compassionate individuals and it has given me a way to play a small part in the fight against an awful disease that I have seen way too many people suffer from.”

Co-event director Zoe Treitman also has her own family’s experience with cancer that has fueled her commitment to the event. Her grandmother Leonora had colon cancer and lost her battle when Zoe was in second grade. She also has long been inspired by her grandfather Rick Treitman, who has participated in the Pan-Mass Challenge to raise money for cancer research.

“So many on Martha’s Vineyard and beyond are affected by cancer, and I want to help make their quality of life better – all while raising funds locally that stay local, supporting Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute Martha’s Vineyard Hospital here on the island,” said Zoe Treitman. “Cancer has taken so many of our loved ones, and we want to do all we can to fight it. I hope our community will come out and join us on Saturday, July 18, at Menemsha Beach and help us make waves to fight cancer!”

Rebekah Thomson, Leah’s mother, is playing a supporting role if needed, but is mostly there to proudly watch her daughter Leah and friend Zoe run the event. “I’m really proud of the ambition that Leah and Zoe have to organize this event and their passion for making a difference,” said Rebekah. “To take on running a major event is a huge endeavor for anyone of any age, but for Leah and Zoe to just be 17, it is a major accomplishment. I’m here to support them and help guide them, if they need it, but they are already taking the reins and running with the tasks needed to manage and hold a successful fundraiser and sporting event.”

Nationally, Swim Across America has raised more than $150 million for cancer research since its founding in 1987 and has helped fund clinical trials that contributed to the FDA-approved cancer immunotherapy medications Keytruda, Opdivo, Yervoy and Tecentriq. In the past year, Swim Across America funded a breakthrough clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering that showed that immunotherapy alone could successfully treat certain types of cancer. The organization also recently awarded two first-of-its-kind gene editing innovation grants to the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, advancing novel CRISPR gene and base editing techniques used in targeted therapies, immunotherapies and cellular therapies. Swim Across America supports more than 60 cancer research projects annually, has eight named Swim Across America labs, and supports work at many of the nation’s leading cancer institutions.

The inaugural Swim Across America – Martha’s Vineyard open water swim on Saturday, July 18, 2026, will be held at Menemsha Beach in Chilmark, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. The swim will raise funds for its local beneficiary Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and support cancer care on the island. Hundreds are expected to dive in and make waves to fight cancer, swimming at this iconic location. Swimmers, land and water volunteers (boaters, kayakers, stand up paddle boarders) are encouraged to register for this inspiring event. Those interested in participating can learn more and register at swimacrossamerica.org/marthasvineyard and follow on instagram or facebook @saamarthasvineyard.

SWIM ACROSS AMERICA – LONG ISLAND SOUND IN THE NEWS

Posted on June 25, 2026August 4, 2026 Posted in #DefeatCancer, #MakingWavesToFightCancer, #SwimAcrossAmerica, beneficiaries, event directors, Events, Fundraising, Long Island Sound, Making Waves With Hope, Messages of Hope, News, Pool Swims, Top Fundraisers, UncategorizedTagged art, books, cancer, cancer research, food, health, inspiration, media, mental-health, News, relationships, social media, swim across america, television, travel, writingLeave a comment

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.