Nearly 600 Participants Expected at Alpine Lake to Raise Funds for Siteman Cancer Center; Team IBK Rallies Around Teammate Jean Roberson During Her Own Pancreatic Cancer Journey
Swim Across America, the national nonprofit organization that makes waves to fight cancer through charity swims across the U.S., will host the 11th annual Swim Across America – St. Louis Open Water Swim on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at Alpine Lake at Innsbrook Resort in Innsbrook, Missouri. Participants can choose from a half-mile, 1-mile or 2-mile open water swim, with proceeds supporting cutting-edge cancer research at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine. Those who cannot swim in person can still volunteer, donate or participate virtually through SAA My Way. Learn more at swimacrossamerica.org/stlouis.
Since its launch in 2016, Swim Across America – St. Louis has raised more than $2.3 million for Siteman Cancer Center. During the past decade, the event has grown into one of the largest gatherings for the regional swim community, welcoming nearly 600 participants each year, along with hundreds of volunteers, spectators and supporters and appearances by Olympic gold medalists and other special guests. The swim has reached capacity for the past four years.
This year, one of the reasons swimmers are diving in, is to support one of their own. Jean Roberson, a longtime Swim Across America participant who spent years raising money for others facing cancer, has unexpectedly found herself on the other side of that equation.
Roberson has participated in Swim Across America – St. Louis since 2019, with her husband volunteering alongside her. Last year, the couple expanded their commitment by hosting a fundraiser at their Alpine Lake home as part of the 2025 Swim Across America weekend. They also created Team Jessica in memory of Roberson’s niece, who passed away from cancer in her mid-20s.
Then, approximately six months ago, Roberson received her own devastating diagnosis: pancreatic cancer.
After undergoing chemotherapy, Roberson had major surgery in July and is continuing her follow-up treatment, including care through Siteman Cancer Center. This year, instead of simply swimming in memory and honor of others touched by cancer, members of the Swim Across America community are now swimming for her.
Roberson is a member of Team IBK, a group of more than 45 swimmers representing the Innsbrook community and beyond. The team is captained by Bill Wilson, a cancer survivor himself and one of the event directors for Swim Across America – St. Louis.
“Jean has supported Swim Across America for years as a swimmer, fundraiser and friend, always focused on helping other patients and families,” Wilson said. “Now our community has the opportunity to rally around Jean. Her story is an incredibly powerful reminder of why we do this and why funding cancer research is so important.”
Team IBK has become a fundraising powerhouse within the St. Louis swim. Last year, the team raised more than $70,000 and has continued an unbroken streak as the top fundraising team at Swim Across America – St. Louis, while also ranking among the organization’s top teams nationally.
“Team IBK will once again represent the community of Innsbrook and beyond on Saturday, August 29, as we participate in the 11th annual Swim Across America – St. Louis Open Water Swim at Alpine Lake,” Wilson said. “We will support the fight to find a cure by participating, volunteering and raising funds to support cutting-edge research at Siteman Cancer Center. May it lead to a cancer-free world.”
Wilson will once again swim a mile at this year’s event while captaining Team IBK. For him, each trip across Alpine Lake represents friends and loved ones who have faced cancer as well as his own experience as a cancer survivor.
“I swim in honor of those who have fought, or are fighting, this insidious disease and in memory of the dear friends I have lost to it,” Wilson said.
The connection between Swim Across America – St. Louis and Siteman Cancer Center is especially meaningful to participants such as Roberson and Wilson because money raised in the community stays in the community, supporting innovative cancer research that can ultimately lead to new treatments, clinical trials and better outcomes for patients.
“Every swimmer, volunteer and donor at Alpine Lake is part of something much larger than a one-day swim,” Wilson said. “We have seen firsthand how cancer research changes lives. When nearly 600 people come together in one place with the same goal, it sends an incredibly powerful message to patients and families that they are not fighting cancer alone.”
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.
For more information, to join as a swimmer, volunteer, or to participate virtually or donate to Swim Across America – St. Louis, visit swimacrossamerica.org/stlouis.
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