I have been raising money for Swim Across America since 2012. In recent years, the cause has become a lot more personal.

OUR STORY

In January 2018, my spouse, Rick Osterberg (long time SAA volunteer and now the SAA Boston event emcee), was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. After 18 months of remission, a routine follow-up scan in June 2020 found a small new tumor located a few inches above the site of the original tumor. 

Here is where Swim Across America enters our story directly. After 4 more rounds of chemo in 2020, Rick's treatment team recommended that he try an immunotherapy drug. The immunotherapy treatment has been far more tolerable -- almost no side effects so far -- and has resulted in tumor shrinkage! 

Early phases of this immunotherapy's development were funded in part by early investments from a Swim Across America event! 

https://swimswam.com/saa-funding-contributes-fda-approval-keytruda/ 

Rick and I were committed to Swim Across America before he was diagnosed. Now, we are fortunate enough to actually benefit from the research conducted by this organization.

Please donate!

In our lifetime, 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will be diagnosed with cancer. I joined the SAA community so that, together, we can change that.

You can make a credit card donation by clicking on the "DONATE NOW" button shown in the right sidebar of this page, or you can send a check to Swim Across America - Boston, c/o Jamie Mannion, PO Box 206, 300 Broadway Lbby, Revere, MA 02151. Note: Check should be made out to Swim Across America but please include a note mentioning my name as the swimmer you are supporting!

Or join us! 

• Option 1: SAA-Boston Festival Swim, August 12, 2023: The Swim Across America-Boston event at Pleasure Bay will kick off this year (Covid restrictions allowing)! Participants can choose between 1/2 mile, 1 mile, and 2 mile events in a sheltered salt water environment with the option to stay in water shallow enough to stand up. Join my team, Team Festivus, or join one of our friendly rival teams, or just register on your own!

• Option 2: SAA My Way: Another alternative is the SAA My Way challenge, where participants can propose their own challenge, which does not even have to be water-related. If, for example, a few MGB folks wanted to do a walk around Castle Island while the swim takes place, they could do so through SAA My Way. Alternately, they could create their own challenge of any duration or level of challenge (blowing bubbles to Ironman triathlons).

• Option 3: Volunteer: Click the "Register" button and select "Volunteer"!

The Boston-area SAA events benefit the Perini Family Survivors' Center at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and pediatric oncology research at Mass General Hospital for Children Cancer Center.