To borrow from Rob Butcher, CEO of Swim Across America, “Saturday, June 20, was a bad day for cancer and a good day for hope.” On a picture-perfect morning, hundreds gathered at the Stamford, Connecticut, headquarters of Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT), for the 20th annual Swim Across America – Fairfield County open water swim. Overall, the event served as a day of swimming, cheering, and giving back in the fight against cancer.
Out on the water, swimmers of all abilities took on ½-mile, 1.5-mile, and 3-mile courses, while volunteers on land and on the water kept the event safe and running smoothly. Families lined the shore to cheer and the youngest participants made a contribution of their own in the Kids’ Splash.
Every swim stroke carried a purpose. Since the first Fairfield County swim in 2007, the event has donated an incredible $6.6 million to ACGT, enough to fund grants supporting 16 ACGT research fellows whose work is advancing cell and gene therapies for solid tumors, including brain, bone, lung, pancreatic, prostate and ovarian cancers. This year, two speakers made that progress tangible: one from the lab, and one from lived experience as a cancer survivor.
Representing the science was Joseph Fraietta, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, a recipient of an ACGT Investigator Award in Cell and Gene Therapy for Gynecological Cancer Research. His ACGT and Swim Across America–supported research is focused on developing next-generation cell and gene therapies to treat ovarian cancer and other types of gynecological cancers. “Every swim brings us closer to better treatments,” Fraietta said. “On behalf of my research team at Penn and the patients who inspire us, thank you for your generosity, your determination and your trust.”
Representing the patient perspective was cancer survivor Laurie Adami, who shared her twelve-year battle with follicular lymphoma. Thanks to CAR T-cell therapy supported by ACGT, she has enjoyed a lasting remission for the past eight years. “Thanks to ACGT and CAR T, I am alive to see my son, now 26, develop a career of his own,” she said. And Laurie did more than attend – she swam.
“I’m swimming today because CAR T saved my life,” she reflected before diving in.
The day celebrated the organization’s 20-year milestone by honoring 20-year swimmers and volunteers. Among those were brother and sister Craig Lawrence and Wendy Lawrence Probert, who were recognized for their 20 years of swimming and volunteering, a commitment rooted in personal loss. Their sister, Kimberly, was the daughter-in-law of ACGT founders Barbara and Edward Netter, and it was her passing from breast cancer in 2001 that moved the Netters to establish ACGT 25 years ago.
That founding story is one thread in a much larger movement. Swim Across America was launched in 1987 by Darien resident Matt Vossler and has since grown to include open water swims in 27 markets nationwide, hundreds of pool swims, and more than $150 million raised for cancer research. This year marks another milestone: two decades of partnership between ACGT and Swim Across America.
Swim Across America – Fairfield County Event Director and cancer survivor Nancy Carr reflected on what makes the event so special: “Together, we are truly turning hope into action, and into the promise of better treatments.”
