On Saturday, April 12, hundreds of swimmers from throughout the Nashville area will dive in at the Ensworth Natatorium for the 4th annual Swim Across America – Nashville Pool Swim, a community team relay swimmer event raising funds for critical cancer research at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC). Swimmers and volunteers interested in participating can register at swimacrossamerica.org/nashville.
To date, Swim Across America – Nashville has raised $275,000 for VICC, helping to fund groundbreaking cancer research and clinical trials.
“The Swim Across America – Nashville event is such an inspiring event,” said Chris McPherson, event director of the Swim Across America – Nashville swim. “The gathering of so many families and so many individuals who are honoring those who are special to them is incredible—whether they are currently battling it out, or survivors, or have lost someone. To hear the stories and to learn about those whom cancer has touched and to experience that love is just palpable. The feeling of wanting to make a change and to do something for those who have experienced cancer is huge.”
This year’s swim is especially meaningful for Sarah Wiseman, a breast cancer survivor and Nashville resident who is participating in her first Swim Across America event with her team Wisemans Wack Cancer. Diagnosed in June 2022 after a routine mammogram revealed an abnormality, Sarah underwent a partial mastectomy, lymph node removal, and 20 rounds of radiation therapy at Vanderbilt Breast Center, part of VICC. Because of advances in cancer research, including tumor testing to evaluate the effectiveness of chemotherapy, Sarah was able to avoid chemotherapy.
“I am a beneficiary of the incredible advances in cancer treatment,” said Sarah. “My mother didn’t have access to these options during her fight with breast cancer. She really struggled, and I believe newer-generation treatments made my journey much easier.”
Swimming played a major role in Sarah’s recovery. A lifelong swimmer and swim mom, she found strength and healing in the pool after her treatments ended. She joined the local Masters swim team and was introduced to Swim Across America by a friend and Swim Across America – Nashville co-event director, Chris McPherson.
“This community event is a wonderful way for me to give back to the doctors, nurses, and caregivers who took such great care of me during treatment,” Sarah said. “I love that Swim Across America allows me to give back through two of my favorite things: swimming and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.”
Swim Across America operates under a guiding principle that money raised locally stays local, and Sarah is proud that her fundraising efforts directly benefit VICC — the very center where she received life-saving care.
Nationally, Swim Across America has raised more than $100 million for cancer research since its founding in 1987 and has a strong track record of funding transformative research, including clinical trials that led to FDA-approved immunotherapy medicines Keytruda, Opdivo, Yervoy and Tecentriq. The organization was also a grant funder of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s landmark clinical trial that achieved a 100% success rate treating advanced rectal cancer patients with dostarlimab.
To learn more about the April 12 Swim Across America – Nashville pool swim or to register to swim, volunteer or donate, visit swimacrossamerica.org/nashville.
About Swim Across America
Swim Across America hosts open water and pool swims in numerous communities nationwide, from Nantucket to under San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. More than 150 Olympians support the organization, including Michael Phelps, Kate Douglass, Missy Franklin and Ryan Lochte. The organization supports more than 60 cancer research projects annually and has ten named Swim Across America Labs at major institutions nationwide. To learn more visit swimacrossamerica.org or follow on Facebook @Swim Across America and Instagram @saaswim.
