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The nine-event calendar begins Saturday at the Westchester Country Club in Harrison and Sunday at the Chappaqua Swim & Tennis club as hundreds of swimmers and their teams begin to do laps to fight cancer.
Swim Across America, Inc. was founded in 1987 and now offers nearly 50 swims in 14 states. The organization has raised more than $40 million for cancer research and prevention programs at the country’s finest hospitals and managed-care facilities.
“We’ve been coming together at the Long Island Sound and surrounding areas for over two decades in an effort to raise funds that will help combat all forms of cancer, an ever-present threat to human life,” SAALIS chapter President Tony Sibio said. “Almost 1,000 swimmers participated in our 2012 swims, and we’re looking to top that number in 2013."
Proceeds from this year’s swims will benefit the Cancer Support Team (serving lower Westchester), the Tommy Palazzo Fellowship for Columbia University and Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital at New York-Presbyterian, The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s Swim Across America and DeMatteo Research Laboratories, and United Hospice of Clarkstown.
The entire summer swim program includes pool swims (with the option of half-mile and one-mile swims) plus a new open-water swim course for a length of 2-Kilometer, 5K or 10K on Long Island Sound.
“Our open-water swim this year offers a new shore-to-shore route that gives participants the ability to form teams of friends and family, and increases the maximum capacity of participants, while conforming to our high safety standards," Sibio said.
The SAA-LIS swims also include; Coveleigh Club in Rye (members only) Thursday, Chappaqua Swim & Tennis Club (July 14), The New York Athletic Club in Pelham (July 19), Orienta Beach Club in Mamaroneck (July 20), Lakeside Field Club in North Salem (July 21) and Lake Isle Country Club in Eastchester (August 3).
Those interested in participating in the 2013 Swim Across America-LIS events can register to swim, volunteer to help, or sponsor a swimmer on the group's website.
Donations can be sent to SAA-Long Island Sound, P.O. Box 217, Larchmont, NY 10538.
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