Residents Swim, Volunteer to Raise Funds for Cancer Research

From J Howard PR: On September 11, 2015, Kate Pollock of Westport, Connecticut, was diagnosed with breast cancer — only a few months after her twin sister’s same diagnosis. At that time, her son was five months old and her daughter had just turned four years old. Today, Kate is not just a cancer survivor, she is a cancer "thriver!" This is why on Saturday, June 24, Kate is volunteering at the 11th annual Swim Across America Greenwich-Stamford Swim that raises funds for crucial cancer research through scientific grants given by the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT), the nation's only non-profit dedicated to cancer gene and cell therapy.

Saturday's Greenwich-Stamford Swim Across America event will raise funds for ACGT's cancer grants and will specifically support two of ACGT's scientists, Dr. Samuel Katz at Yale University, who is using RNA to increase immunotherapy's effectiveness while reducing any side effects for blood cancers; and Dr. Crystal Mackall at Stanford University, who is using her ACGT/Swim Across America grant for finding new treatments using immunotherapy for osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer.
In this one-year alone, 1,688,780 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and there will be 600,920 cancer deaths in the U.S. This staggering statistic offers compelling proof of the need to continue devising new approaches to research and treatment. Whether it is through swimming, volunteering, giving or cheering on loved ones, Swim Across America welcomes anyone and everyone who wants to be a part of the fight against cancer.

Each year, the Greenwich-Stamford Swim Across America Swim grows with more swimmers, more volunteers and more money raised in the fight to defeat cancer. This year, Swim Across America is expecting more than 200 swimmers and close to 100 volunteers. In addition, more local high school swim teams and their coaches have signed up, such as Greenwich High School swim team coaches Terry Lowe and Lorrie Hokayem who are leading Team Julian in honor of 2014 Greenwich High School graduate and swim team captain Julian Fraser who sadly passed away this year after an 11 month battle with osteosarcoma. Darien High School swim coach Marjorie Trifone and her team Blue Wave Swim & Dive are also participating, as are Greenwich Academy, Brunswick School, Ridgefield High School and LaGuardia High School.

“A very big and very moving part of the Swim Across America Greenwich-Stamford Swim is hearing the stories of ‘Why I Swim’ or ‘Why I Volunteer’ from our participants,” noted Michele Graham, one of the co-chairs of the event and the mother of a teenage cancer survivor. Michele’s daughter Nicole, also a 2014 Greenwich High School graduate, is a leukemia survivor. Lorrie Lorenz, the other co-chair, is also the mother of a teenage cancer survivor with her daughter Brooke, who was diagnosed with lymphoma her senior year of high school. Brooke will be celebrating six years of being cancer-free and Nicole will be celebrating five years cancer-free at this year’s Swim.

With this being the Greenwich-Stamford Swim Across America’s 11th year, the event has in past years:

• Raised more than $3.1 million to support the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT) - 100% of all donations to ACGT go directly to support cancer cell and gene therapy research
• Inspired 1,881 swimmers to swim in Long Island Sound making waves to #defeatcancer
• Included swimmers ages six to 82!
• Had the help of 950 land, beach and sea volunteers
• Swam 2,500+ total miles

Local retailers are also getting into the "swim of it" with a "Shop for a Cause Swim Across America day." Local Westport store Splash of Pink is donating ten percent (10%) of sales from all sales on Thursday, June 22, from 12:00 - 6:00 p.m. Splash of Pink is located at 275 Post Road East in Westport.

For swimmers, boaters, kayakers, paddle boarders and land volunteers interested in participating in the June 24, 2017, 11th annual Swim Across America Greenwich-Stamford Swim, registration is available at swimacrossamerica.org/greenwich. A pool swim is also available. For more information, email greenwich@swimacrossamerica.org or call 203-570-9195.

Nationally, Swim Across America has raised more than $65 million in the fight against cancer with swims throughout the United States since its founding in 1987. In Connecticut, the annual Swim Across America event is an open water swim with ½-mile, 1.5-mile and 3-mile options. Proceeds of the fundraising efforts support cancer research grants administered by ACGT.

Photo courtesy of J Howard PR