(Providence, RI) – On Saturday, September 9, 2023, Swim Across America – Rhode Island Open Water Swim (SAA-RI) will hold its 14th annual charity swim at scenic Roger Wheeler State Beach, located at 100 Sand Hill Cove in Narragansett. Funds raised through this event will directly support crucial and often life-saving cancer research at Women & Infants Hospital. Established in 2010, SAA-RI has raised over $2 million to date, to fund cancer research at one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns, Rhode Island’s Women & Infants Hospital.
Each year, the Rhode Island charity swim attracts over 600 swimmers and volunteers who enthusiastically show up to support this worthy cause, including notable Olympian and Rhode Island native Elizabeth Beisel.
“I encourage Rhode Islanders from across our great state to help us make a splash this year! This event is a fun time for the whole family while giving everyone the opportunity to simultaneously support crucial cutting-edge gynecological and breast cancer research that may ultimately save lives. Every year, millions of Americans are beating cancer through advancements in treatments, which funded research helps make possible. I hope you’ll all join us on Saturday, September 9th, at one of Rhode Island’s most picturesque beaches for this truly meaningful charity swim,” said Shannon Sullivan, president, and COO of Women & Infants Hospital.
Founded in 1987, Swim Across America is a national nonprofit organization that holds 24 open water swims and hundreds of pool swims across the country, from Boston to under the Golden Gate Bridge. The organization has an interesting history as it started with a sunken boat in Long Island Sound at its first-ever open water swim and has turned its passion for swimming and fighting cancer into $100 million that supports cancer research throughout the country.
Over several decades, Swim Across America funding has contributed to four FDA-approved life-saving immunotherapy treatments: Yervoy, Opdivo, Tecentriq, and Keytruda, and supports research with more than 60 scientific grants funded each year.
This year’s open water swim will include three swim options and one virtual option: a 1-mile, 0.5-mile, or 0.25-mile open water swim, or SAA My Way (virtual).
While hundreds of local swimmers, and water and land volunteers join in the swim, the Rhode Island event is known for having more college swim teams participate than any other swim in the country.
Join us for the 14th annual SAA-RI swim on Saturday, September 9th at Roger Wheeler State Beach!
To learn more about Swim Across America or to register to swim, volunteer or donate, please visit swimacrossamerica.org/rhodeisland.
About Women & Infants Hospital
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. A major teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology, and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women’s medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth-largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country and the largest in New England with approximately 8,700 deliveries per year. Women & Infants is a Designated Baby-Friendly® USA hospital, a U.S.News & World Report 2014-15 Best Children’s Hospital in Neonatology, and a 2014 Leapfrog Top Hospital. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology ranked number 11 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Medical Schools specialty ranking.
Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiography; a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology; Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence in Perinatal Biology and in Reproductive Health by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high-risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology, and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network, Neonatal Research Network, and Pelvic Floors Disorders Network, as well as the National Cancer Institute’s Gynecologic Oncology Group.
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