Swimmers to Make a Splash for Cancer

(Submitted by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute)

Susannah Ford, Beth Dowd and William Wemer of Brookline have joined Swim Across America to make a splash for pediatric cancer survivorship programs at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The 17th annual Boston Harbor 22-mile relay swim is on Friday, July 15, and the 15th annual DCR Nantasket Beach one-mile and half-mile swims are on Saturday, July 16.

“The swims are a great way for people to come together and participate in a sport they love alongside Olympic swimming legends while raising critical funds for the David. B. Perini Jr., Quality of Life Clinic at Dana-Farber,” says 1988 Olympic Silver Medalist Janel Jorgensen, who is also the executive director of the organization. “This year Craig Beardsley, Carlton Brunner and Brooke Bennett are among the Olympians scheduled to swim with us.”

Every stroke and dollar makes a difference in the fight against cancer. The Boston Harbor swim is an all day event that starts from behind the Boston Harbor Hotel at Rowes Wharf. Swimmers pledge a minimum of $1,500 to participate. Swimmers taking part in the one and half-mile competitive ocean swims at Nantasket Beach in Hull must raise a minimum of $250 each.

Swim Across America is a non-profit corporation that organizes events from Boston to San Francisco to support cancer research at the country’s finest hospitals and institutions.  Proceeds from the Boston-area swims go directly to the David B. Perini, Jr. Quality of Life Program at Dana-Farber, where experts help pediatric cancer survivors with an array of issues, including long-term effects of treatment, social and psychological concerns and the risk of second cancers.

For more information, to register, or to give a gift, visit www.swimacrossamerica.org.