Middlebury swim team helps raise money for cancer research with ocean swim

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — At Nantasket Beach in Massachusetts this summer, Middlebury College swim team members and their coach joined about 50 other New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) swimmers, coaches and alumni in a one-mile ocean swim to help raise money for cancer research.

All participants braved water temperatures in the upper 50s to support “Swim Across America” (SAA) for the second straight summer. The Middlebury swimmers helped NESCAC teams raise more than $54,000.

Swimmers from NESCAC teams raised more than $54,000 in this summer's 'Swim Across America' event.

“The summer tradition at Nantasket Beach is off to a slower start for the Middlebury team because of all that the they do with Relay for Life, but it’s my hope that this event will grow bigger and bigger with our team,” said coach Peter Solomon. “The first summer, it was just Whitney Thomas [’08] and me. This past summer, we had a total of nine swimmers from Middlebury at the event.”

In addition to Solomon and Thomas, Middlebury swimmers at Nantasket included Mario Guevara Martinez ’10, Kevin O’Rourke ’09, Katie Soja ’10 and Catherine Suppan ’09. Also on hand were two former Middlebury swim team coaches, Mary Ellen McLaughlin and Don McIntosh, and Don’s son Dan.

“With the Relay for Life and Swim Across America, I have been exceptionally proud of how involved our team has been in such worthy causes over the years,” said Solomon. “In fact, I counted more than 700 hours of volunteer work that our team contributed in Addison County alone this past year. These kids are not only dedicated students and athletes, but are also very giving of themselves and of their time when it comes to helping out others in the community.”