19th Annual Swim Across America – Fairfield County Open Water Swim Swim Raises $400,000 for Cancer Research

The sun shone down on more than 400 swimmers and volunteers at the 19th annual Swim Across America – Fairfield County open water swim, held June 21, on the shores of Old Greenwich and Stamford.

With the day being the first  Saturday in 16 weeks without rain, the mood at the swim was joyful, thankful and emotional as swimmers and volunteers shared their purpose, personal stories and perseverance for why they were making waves to fight cancer.

To start the day, the Kids’ Splash attracted more than 60 children with its fun splash along the shore to a giant inflatable pink flamingo in the water and featured other fun activities like face painting, a balloon artist, arts and crafts and more.

The Kids’ Splash was managed this year by Swim Across America volunteers Ryann Hackett, Caroline Nicolau, and Hannah Flynn, and proved that even the smallest among us can make big waves to fight cancer. A special guest appearance by Dash the Dolphin, Swim Across America’s new mascot, was also a big hit and entertained the crowd posing for pictures.

Last year’s Swim Across America – Fairfield County Kids’ Splash was in honor of “Queen Willa,” – Willa Kosh – who now at six years-old, is fearlessly battling B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) and is nearing the end of a two-year treatment journey that has included chemotherapy, steroid pulses, and other medications.

Nicknamed “Queen Willa” for her commanding presence and playful personality, Willa was diagnosed at just four years old and has shown incredible resilience throughout her treatment. Outside of swimming, Willa loves to play “Willa’s Restaurant,” inspired by her family’s actual restaurant chain Garden Catering, co-owned by Willa’s mom Tina Carpenteri.

At Saturday’s Kids’ Splash, Willa once again led the charge into the water, bringing her friends and family, including her big brother, for a fun morning in the water. Willa has become a beacon of hope for many in the community. Willa is expected to ring the bell this July to mark the end of her treatment — a milestone her family and the community eagerly await.

Also inspiring was the morning’s guest speaker Chris White, a cancer patient and survivor who is here today thanks to the power of cancer research — specifically cancer cell gene therapy, the type of treatments being funded by Swim Across America – Fairfield County’s local beneficiary Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy. Chris White, who calls himself a “survivor, thriver and advocate,” was diagnosed in July 2018 at age 36 with a rare anorectal mucosal melanoma that quickly spread from a rectal “lump” to his groin, lungs, liver and brain. After three surgeries, multiple rounds of chemotherapy, radiation, and three different immunotherapy regimens (Opdivo, Yervoy and Keytruda) failed, doctors advised hospice in December 2019.

Refusing to give up, Chris secured emergency radiation to his brain so he could qualify — just in time — as the last enrollee in a tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) cell-and-gene-therapy trial. He received his personalized infusion on Jan. 15, 2020, and by early 2021 scans showed a complete metabolic response. Today he remains cancer-free and is a vocal advocate for wider access to cell and gene therapies, describing TIL therapy as “winning the war, not just the battle” against cancer.

The rest of the swim event was made up of hundreds of swimmers diving in and swimming ½-mile, 1.5-miles or 3-miles along the Stamford/Greenwich shore all to raise money to fight cancer. The event raised more than $400,000 (and still growing) to fund crucial cancer research through Swim Across America – Fairfield County’s local beneficiary, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT).

Among those leading the charge and the event’s top fundraisers were those with deeply personal connections to the cause:

• Peter Carlson, captain of Team Julian, swam his 15th swim in memory of Julian Fraser, a standout swimmer and water polo player at Greenwich High School who sadly lost his battle with osteosarcoma at the young age of 20 in 2017. This year Peter also swam for his brother-in-law, David Gulliver, who lost his battle with lung cancer last October at age 60, and in memory of his former neighbor, Janet Johnson, who lost her six-year battle with breast cancer in November at age 55.  Peter has been the #1 individual fundraiser consistently for the past several years, raising more than $36,500 himself just this year and led his team to raise nearly $60,000. In the past nine years Team Julian has raised more than $1 million for cancer research.  “We all know others who are also fighting their own battle,” Peter said.

  • Nancy Carr, Swim Across America – Fairfield County event director and two-time cancer survivor, led the team that managed the mammoth task of running the annual Swim Across America event, all while undergoing cancer treatment herself and fundraising more than $32,000 to support the cause. Though she was the lone event director, she was supported by an incredible team of dedicated volunteers who helped bring the event to life. “After almost 10 years volunteering, I never expected to become a cancer patient myself,” said Nancy. “But this community has carried me through. We’re passionate about bringing us all closer to a future free of cancer.”

• Greg Sedlock swam in honor of his very close friend and swimming buddy, Brian Sullivan, who sadly passed away last May after a six-month battle with a rare and very aggressive cancer. The two swam together in countless open water swims including in the San Francisco Bay and the Long Island Sound. “I swam for Brian and all who are still fighting,” said Greg. He raised more than $22,500!

• Shep Jennings, age 11, from Darien, Connecticut, raised more than $9,200 by emailing friends, going door-to-door, holding lemonade stands and bagel sales. “I was inspired to swim and raise money to fight cancer from seeing my parents raise funds for ALS after it impacted my grandma. Every dollar means scientists get closer to cures,” Shep said.

Top fundraising teams included: Team Julian, captained by Peter Carlson, raising more than $68,600; Team G.I. Nancy, led by Nancy Carr with more than $48,000; the Greenwich YMCA Marlins captained by Izzie Nassa raised  more than $26,700; the  Caimans for a Cure, led by Kaitlyn Knowles, raised more than $17,200, and the Darien YMCA Piranhas, led by 11-year-old Shep Jennings raised close to $13,500.

Founded in 1987 by Darien, Connecticut, resident Matt Vossler, Swim Across America nationally has raised more than $100 million for cancer research, funding transformative trials that have led to FDA-approved immunotherapy cancer medications Keytruda, Opdivo, Yervoy and Tecentriq.

The organization has also supported Memorial Sloan Kettering’s landmark trials including the recent Phase II clinical trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine showing an 80% success rate treating MMRd cancers with immunotherapy alone.

Swim Across America also recently awarded the first-of-their-kind gene editing innovation grants using Crispr to Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to advance safer, more effective targeted treatments.

To learn more about Swim Across America – Fairfield County, or to donate, visit swimacrossamerica.org/fc.

Swim Across America hosts open water and pool swims in numerous communities nationwide, from Nantucket to under San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. More than 150 Olympians support the organization, including Michael Phelps, Kate Douglass, Missy Franklin, Elizabeth Beisel, Rowdy Gaines and other Olympic athletes. The organization supports more than 60 cancer research projects annually and has ten named Swim Across America Labs at major institutions nationwide.