Column: We Should All Strive to Make Waves…

Swim Across America Fairfield County swimmers enter the water at a previous swim. This year’s swim is scheduled for Saturday, June 25. Photo credit: Cheryl Moss.

By Jenifer Howard

The start of summer is always filled with end of school celebrations, the opening of the Farmer’s Market, flowers in bloom, beach cards and the June 25th Swim Across America Fairfield County open water swim.

Swim Across America Fairfield County has been an annual event along the shores of Stamford and Old Greenwich since 2007. The open water swim held at the end of each June signals the end of school and the cross-over into summer. But it also signifies something much greater: a need to fund crucial cancer research. Swim Across America is not just an opportunity to have fun and swim with friends and family, it is a pivotal fundraiser that raises much needed dollars for the swim’s local beneficiary the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, headquartered in Stamford and the site of the swim. I’ve written about Swim Across America and ACGT in the past, but I haven’t written about what this swim means to me and to so many in the community. It’s one of my favorite and most inspirational events of the year.

But… I’m not a swimmer. I love to swim and I’m incredibly inspired by all who do swim, but for this swim, I’m more productive on the land supporting the event and the hundreds of swimmers and volunteers who make it such a success. In fact, you don’t have to be a swimmer to make a difference. You can volunteer on land, boat, kayak, stand-up paddle board, or donate and cheer on the swimmers.

Swim Across America co-chair Nancy Carr said it well: “I originally dove in as a land volunteer at my first Swim Across America Fairfield County event and after that first year, I was hooked. Each year our goal is to raise $500,000. That’s a big number, but the last couple years were tough, and we have a lot of ground to make up. Cancer did not stop because there was a pandemic.”

Nancy’s co-chair Cristy Fraser knows the devastating effects of cancer too well. She sadly lost her son Julian at age 20 to osteosarcoma. Julian was a beloved member of the Greenwich community as a Greenwich High School graduate, and an All-American swimmer and water polo player. Team Julian, with many local teens and friends, is now one of the largest teams that participates in Swim Across America Fairfield County and swims in Julian’s memory.

“We’ve always been involved with Swim Across America even before Julian had cancer,” said Cristy Fraser. “The Swim Across America Fairfield County open water swim is such an inspiring event. The gathering of so many families and individuals who are honoring those who are currently battling it out, survivors, or have lost someone, is incredible. The love you feel is palpable. The need to want to make a change and to do something for those who have experienced cancer is huge.”

Survivors like Roberta Bass, Nicole Graham, Brooke Lorenz, Shân Brock, Kate and Liza Pollack, Meline Dixon, and so many others, are incredibly moving and some of the reasons everyone comes back year after year – to make a difference in the fight against cancer.

“If we can save someone with the treatments we are funding with Swim Across American Fairfield County through ACGT, we’ve made a real difference in the world,” said Matt Vossler, who is a Darien resident and a co-founder of Swim Across America. Matt and his college roommate Jeff Keith, who is a childhood cancer survivor, founded Swim Across America 35 years ago in 1987. What started with a sunken boat in Long Island Sound has gone on to raise more than $100 million for cancer research in 24 communities across the country. Swim Across America Fairfield County has raised $4.7 million for its local beneficiary Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, which uses 100 percent of funds provided by the swim to fund research scientists using cancer gene therapy and immunotherapy to treat cancer – some of the most promising forms of treatment today.

To learn more about Swim Across America Fairfield County or join as a swimmer or volunteer on June 25, visit swimacrossamerica.org/fc.

Jenifer Howard is a 25 year Greenwich resident and public relations professional, who works with tech, consumer product companies and nonprofits through her agency J. Howard Public Relations (JHPR).

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