Long Island Sound Swim This Saturday to Raise Funds for Cancer Research

Swim Across America - Long Island Sound is holding its 32nd annual open water swim on Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Larchmont, New York, with more than 800 swimmers and volunteers all making waves to fight cancer. One of the top fundraising teams is Team John, made up of a number of swimmers from the Scarsdale Town Pool who are again swimming in honor of their friend and fellow swimmer John Needham, who lost his battle with cancer in June 2023, just shy of his 70th birthday. Team John has over 15 swimmers and kayakers and again will raise over $100,000 in contributions to fight cancer.

A long-time Scarsdale resident, John Needham was an All-American swimmer at Hamilton College in upstate New York. After attending Boston University Law School he found his true calling and joined the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan and, ultimately, in the Bronx, working tirelessly to defend the underprivileged and marginalized. John’s greatest joy was his family, including his wife Leanne, sister Sarah, daughter Caitlin and son Dan, an award-winning swimmer who will be part of Team John and participating in the Swim Across America event at the 10K distance.

“For so many years John was with us every morning during the summertime at the Scarsdale Town Pool and his absence John Needhamcontinues to be felt deeply,” said Josh Glantz, co-captain of Team John. “We are all honored to be able to swim again this year in his memory. Over the 20 years that members of the Scarsdale Town Pool have come together to participate as a team in the Swim Across America event, we have been able to raise close to $1 million to help fund crucial research in the batter against cancer.”

Swim Across America - Long Island Sound held its first swim in 1992. Since that time, the swim has raised more than $25 million for its local beneficiaries, which have grown to include Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Columbia University Cancer Center, Cancer Support Team and Weill Cornell Medical Center. Through the funds raised at the annual swim, a network of doctors, researchers and caregivers continue to make breakthroughs in treating this deadly disease.

Swim Across America is a national nonprofit organization and offers open water and pool swims in 24 communities, from Boston to under the Golden Gate Bridge, to raise funds for cancer research. While its events are across America, its roots are firmly anchored along the shores of Long Island Sound. Nationally, Swim Across America has raised more than $100 million in the fight against cancer. More than 150 Olympians support Swim Across America.

Swim Across America’s funding of clinical trials on a national level - and specifically with the funds raised by the Long Island Sound swim - has helped contribute to four FDA approved life-saving immunotherapy cancer treatments: Yervoy, Opdivo, Tecentriq and Keytruda. Recently, 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. The clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering was funded by early-stage grant funding from Swim Across America - Long Island Sound.

To learn more about Swim Across America - Long Island Sound or to register to swim, volunteer or donate, visit swimacrossamerica.org/longislandsound. For those who would like to support Team Gina or any of the other swimmers at the June 27 Swim Across America - Long Island Sound open water event, or the eight pool swims this summer, donations can be made here.