Swim Across America Nantucket Sets New Record With $1 Million Raised For Cancer Care, Research

The weather was a wild card, but the inspiration and community spirit came through once again during Saturday’s 13th annual Swim Across America Nantucket.

On a blustery July morning, hundreds of island residents came together at Jetties Beach for the open water swim event and raised a record-breaking $1 million for local cancer care and oncology research.

The strong north winds and extreme low tide limited the swim to just a dip into the shallow waters due to safety concerns, but the event's purpose shone through nevertheless.

Nantucket High School class of 2011 graduate Ryan Murray spoke during the “Why I Swim” presentation, describing in vivid detail how he was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer at the young age of 30. Murray told the crowd that he returned to his hometown from the West Coast and received exemplary care at the Swim Across America Infusion Center at Nantucket Cottage Hospital, the hospital where he was born. Today, he said, “I am cancer-free.”

The $1 million-plus raised on Saturday far surpassed last year’s record-breaking total of $885,000, and is expected to climb even higher in the coming days.

“It shows you what the power of community can do," said an emotional Jim Pignato, who is the co-director and founder of SAA Nantucket. "I thought we would get there eventually. To do it today is amazing. It really goes to show that when the cause is important and you have the community support behind it, really great things can happen. That's what we saw here this morning.”



“In 2013 (Swim Across America) said in order to continue this, you need to raise 100,000," Pignato said. "That year we raised 187,000. So from there, we've gone to seven figures. It is a community effort from everybody who helps out, from setting up the beach at 4:45 in the morning. It's a year-round push. It's amazing.”

Pignato’s partner in the Swim Across America event, co-director and founder Jill Roethke, added: “It starts from the kids doing lemonade stands to our sponsors, the swimmers, the volunteers, and I think now people truly understand what Swim Across America is all about. And people understand the important services that we provide between the oncologist coming from Mass General, our nurses that we call our angels, PASCON and the research, and we're just all coming together to make waves to fight cancer."

All photos below by Chris Tran