Since 1987, Swim Across America has hosted charity swims with one goal: to raise money for innovative cancer research that would lead to breakthrough treatments and therapies. Locally, Swim Across America benefits programs to provide long-term support to survivors of pediatric cancer at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland because there's no insurance or public support for social, emotional and other supportive care. SAA also benefits cutting edge hematology and oncology research being carried out at the Children's Hospital of Oakland Research Institute (CHORI).

I've witnessed how the people at UCSF care for children and families while advancing research for better therapies through my husband, who has devoted his career to this work in pediatric oncology. You can read more about the Sweet-Cordero Lab's research here: https://sweetcorderolab.ucsf.edu/

I am swimming to honor the memory of two women named Charlotte. My mother Charlotte Coll was taken from us too soon by acute myeloid leukemia, one of the diseases UCSF scientists work so hard to understand and cure. Charlotte Murdoff was a beautiful young human and my husband's patient at UCSF. You can read about her life and legacy here: https://give.ucsfbenioffchildrens.org/stories/charlotte-what-resilience-looks-like

If you are able, please consider making a donation to help us meet our fundraising goal. If you are interested in joining our team "Aquatic Park Bleacher Creatures" we welcome your participation in the water, on land, and virtual teammates, too.

Thank you for helping #MakeWavesToFightCancer.