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Boaters,
Kayakers and Stand-Up Paddle Boarder
Volunteers Needed for Annual Swim Across America
Fairfield County Open Water Swim on June 24, 2023
Swimmers,
Boaters, Volunteers Make Waves in the Fight Against
Cancer
Calling all
swimmers, boaters, kayakers and stand-up paddle boarders
(SUPs)! The 17th annual Swim
Across America Fairfield County open water
swim is #makingwaves to #fightcancer and will be
held Saturday, June 24, 2023. The swim takes
place in Stamford in the waters of Long Island Sound at
the headquarters of the Swim’s local beneficiary, Alliance
for Cancer Gene Therapy. There are three
different swim distances available: a half-mile,
one-and-a-half mile and a three mile swim. Boaters,
kayakers, paddle boarders and land volunteers
participate as well in this inspirational event with
close to 200 swimmers and 150 volunteers. To register as
a swimmer or a volunteer, visit swimacrossamerica.org/fc.
Why does Swim
Across America Fairfield County swim to raise money in
the fight against cancer? Cancer sadly touches everyone
— whether it is a loved one or a friend, everyone knows
someone who has been impacted by cancer. In 2023, it is
estimated that 1.9 million new cases of cancer will be
diagnosed and there will be 609,820 cancer deaths in the
U.S. These staggering statistics offer compelling proof
of the need to continue devising new approaches to
treatment. In fact, there are more than 18 million
Americans with a history of invasive cancer who are
alive today, who were diagnosed many years ago or now
have no current evidence of the disease, thanks to new
treatments. Whether it is through swimming,
volunteering, donating or cheering on loved ones and
friends, Swim Across America Fairfield County welcomes
anyone and everyone who wants to be a part of the fight
against cancer.
“The Swim Across
America Fairfield County open water swim is such an
inspiring event,” said Cristy Fraser, co-event director
of the open water swim. “The gathering of so many
families and so many individuals who are honoring those
who are special to them is incredible — whether they are
currently battling it out, or survivors or have lost
someone. To hear the stories and to learn about those
whom cancer has touched and to experience that love is
just palpable. The feeling of wanting to make a change
and to do something for those who have experienced
cancer is huge.”
Cristy is the
mother of Julian Fraser, a 2014 Greenwich High School
graduate and All-American swimmer and water polo player,
who sadly passed away in 2017 after a short battle with
osteosarcoma. Team Julian, which is one of the largest
teams that participates in the Swim Across America
Fairfield County swim, participate in Julian’s memory.
"I wasn't a
swimmer when I first joined Swim Across America
Fairfield County, noted Nancy Carr, co-event director.
"But I quickly realized after my friend Cristy Fraser's
son was diagnosed with cancer, that I could contribute
in many other ways. If you would like to participate but
swimming isn’t
your thing, we have a lot of other ways to get involved:
you can be a land volunteer, boater, kayaker or stand-up
paddle boarder. We also have pool swims, fun adult water
polo inner tube matches, a Sip & Shop event, or you can
even swim or do your own activity to inspire your
friends and family to donate. Donations are also always
welcome."
Funds raised by
Swim Across America Fairfield County go directly to
support scientific cancer gene therapy grants
administered by the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy.
Swim Across America Fairfield County has specifically
raised $5 million in the past 16 years for ACGT. This
year’s swim supports three Alliance for Cancer Gene
Therapy research fellows funded by Swim Across America
Fairfield County who are using the funds to find better
and more effective cancer treatments using cell and gene
therapy. The scientists are Sidi Chen, PhD, of
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of
Genetics, Systems Biology Institute and Cancer Center,
working on a novel CRISPR-based immune gene therapy for
pancreatic cancer; Brian Brown, PhD, with the
Icahn Genomics Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine
at Mount Sinai New York who is equipping a patient’s own
T cells to kill cancer cells in tumors, specifically
working on lung cancer, with the hope the work
translates to other types of cancer; and Juan Fueyo,
MD, with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer
Center department of Neuro-Oncology-Research and
Division of Cancer Medicine, who is using his grant to
develop novel gene therapy strategies for the treatment
of malignant gliomas (brain cancer).
Swim Across
America is a national organization and offers open water
and pool swims in 24 communities, from Boston Harbor to
under the Golden Gate Bridge, but its roots are firmly
anchored along the shores of Connecticut. Darien,
Connecticut, resident Matt Vossler and his
lifelong friend and college roommate Jeff Keith founded
Swim Across America in 1987 with the first swimming
event in Long Island Sound. Throughout its 36 years,
Swim Across America has raised more than $100 million in
the fight against cancer. More than 150 Olympians
support Swim Across America, including Michael Phelps,
Craig Beardsley (who was inducted into the International
Swimmer’s Hall of Fame in 2022), Donna De Varona (a
Greenwich resident and honorary Fairfield County
co-chair), Rowdy Gaines, Janel Jorgensen McArdle (who
grew up in Ridgefield, Connecticut), Bobby Hackett, Ryan
Lochte, Glenn Mills, Cristina Teuscher (who participates
in the Fairfield County event) and many more.
Swim Across
America’s funding of clinical trials on a national level
has helped contribute to four FDA approved life-saving
immunotherapy cancer treatments: Yervoy, Opdivo,
Tecentriq and Keytruda. Just last summer, the very
exciting news about a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan
Kettering was published in The
New England Journal of Medicine that
showed a 100 percent success rate in treating patients
in a phase 2 clinical trial for advanced rectal cancer
with dostarlimab, an immunotherapy treatment produced by
GlaxoSmithKline. The clinical trial at Memorial Sloan
Kettering was funded by early-stage grant funding from
Swim Across America.
To learn more
about Swim Across America Fairfield County or to
register to swim, volunteer or donate, visit swimacrossamerica.org/fc.
About Swim
Across America
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