Second RI Swim Across America Event Planned
Providence, RI, July 22, 2011 --(PR.com)-- After a record-setting inaugural event last year, Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and the national non-profit organization Swim Across America (SAA) have set the date for the second open water fundraising swim on Saturday, September 10 at 9 am.
Swimming enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels are invited to join Olympic swimmer Craig Beardsley at the event, being held at Roger Wheeler State Beach. The ½ - or 1-mile swim in Narragansett Bay will raise money for Women & Infants’ Program in Women’s Oncology through pledges collected by swimmers, online donations and sponsorships. The event is open to individual swimmers or teams. Swimmers pledge to raise $250 in donations each to enter.
“We are so pleased to have had Swim Across America’s first Rhode Island swim dedicated to ovarian cancer research,” noted Cornelius “Skip” Granai III, MD, director of the Program in Women’s Oncology. “To have raised so much money in the first year is an amazing accomplishment and will make a tremendous impact on our research endeavors here.”
The 2010 event was successful in the eyes of Swim Across America officials as well.
“Last year, we were able to raise one of the largest amounts ever in a first-year swim in our organization’s history,” said Janel Jorgenson, a 1988 Olympic silver medalist and executive director of Swim Across America, a national non-profit organization dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment. “We look forward to continuing this tremendous success in 2011!”
“It’s an honor to again partner with Swim Across America on this innovative fundraising event,” said Karen A. Davie, senior vice president philanthropy and governance at Women & Infants. “We all know someone with cancer, and this enables individual swimmers and teams to participate in honor or memory of a loved one with cancer. In the long run, they will be helping many more women diagnosed with this disease through the Program in Women’s Oncology, the largest oncology service dedicated to women in the Northeast.”
“It is certainly a personal challenge to get into the ocean and participate in this event,” added Roger Begin, chairman of the Women & Infants Development Foundation. “But that is really nothing compared to the challenge cancer patients face each day they are in treatment. Knowing that should inspire people to sign up and help.”
Swim Across America Inc. is a non-profit organization established more than 20 years ago with the mission of raising money for cancer research, prevention and treatment. To date, more than $30 million has been raised through swims held throughout the country, including Boston, Baltimore, Nashville, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago.
After swimmers jump in and complete the swim, they will be welcomed back to the shore by cheering family and friends. The event ends with a closing ceremony with an inspirational guest speaker and an awards ceremony in which Swim Across America will honor some of the top fundraisers and teams.
"Swim Across America is incredibly excited to be coming back to Rhode Island this year,” Jorgensen said. “Rhode Island athletes are a strong community and our greatest hope is that through our swim, we can inspire people to act and join our Swim Across America community. This event brings us one step closer to finding a cure for cancer and that is what motivates us."
For more information or to register for the Swim Across America – Rhode Island event, go to www.swimacrossamerica.org/RI. For more information about the Program in Women’s Oncology at Women & Infants, visit womenandinfants.org.
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 U.S. News Best Hospital in Gynecology and Best Children’s Hospital in Neonatology, Women & Infants was ranked number one in the Providence metro area and a top hospital in Cancer and Gynecology. The primary 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 seventh largest obstetrical service in the country with more than 8,500 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened the country’s largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.
New England’s premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation’s only mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation’s only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.
Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiography; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; a Center of Excellence for Reproductive Resource Services; 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 National Cancer Institute’s Gynecologic Oncology Group.
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Swimming enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels are invited to join Olympic swimmer Craig Beardsley at the event, being held at Roger Wheeler State Beach. The ½ - or 1-mile swim in Narragansett Bay will raise money for Women & Infants’ Program in Women’s Oncology through pledges collected by swimmers, online donations and sponsorships. The event is open to individual swimmers or teams. Swimmers pledge to raise $250 in donations each to enter.
“We are so pleased to have had Swim Across America’s first Rhode Island swim dedicated to ovarian cancer research,” noted Cornelius “Skip” Granai III, MD, director of the Program in Women’s Oncology. “To have raised so much money in the first year is an amazing accomplishment and will make a tremendous impact on our research endeavors here.”
The 2010 event was successful in the eyes of Swim Across America officials as well.
“Last year, we were able to raise one of the largest amounts ever in a first-year swim in our organization’s history,” said Janel Jorgenson, a 1988 Olympic silver medalist and executive director of Swim Across America, a national non-profit organization dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer research, prevention and treatment. “We look forward to continuing this tremendous success in 2011!”
“It’s an honor to again partner with Swim Across America on this innovative fundraising event,” said Karen A. Davie, senior vice president philanthropy and governance at Women & Infants. “We all know someone with cancer, and this enables individual swimmers and teams to participate in honor or memory of a loved one with cancer. In the long run, they will be helping many more women diagnosed with this disease through the Program in Women’s Oncology, the largest oncology service dedicated to women in the Northeast.”
“It is certainly a personal challenge to get into the ocean and participate in this event,” added Roger Begin, chairman of the Women & Infants Development Foundation. “But that is really nothing compared to the challenge cancer patients face each day they are in treatment. Knowing that should inspire people to sign up and help.”
Swim Across America Inc. is a non-profit organization established more than 20 years ago with the mission of raising money for cancer research, prevention and treatment. To date, more than $30 million has been raised through swims held throughout the country, including Boston, Baltimore, Nashville, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago.
After swimmers jump in and complete the swim, they will be welcomed back to the shore by cheering family and friends. The event ends with a closing ceremony with an inspirational guest speaker and an awards ceremony in which Swim Across America will honor some of the top fundraisers and teams.
"Swim Across America is incredibly excited to be coming back to Rhode Island this year,” Jorgensen said. “Rhode Island athletes are a strong community and our greatest hope is that through our swim, we can inspire people to act and join our Swim Across America community. This event brings us one step closer to finding a cure for cancer and that is what motivates us."
For more information or to register for the Swim Across America – Rhode Island event, go to www.swimacrossamerica.org/RI. For more information about the Program in Women’s Oncology at Women & Infants, visit womenandinfants.org.
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 U.S. News Best Hospital in Gynecology and Best Children’s Hospital in Neonatology, Women & Infants was ranked number one in the Providence metro area and a top hospital in Cancer and Gynecology. The primary 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 seventh largest obstetrical service in the country with more than 8,500 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened the country’s largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.
New England’s premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation’s only mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation’s only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.
Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiography; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; a Center of Excellence for Reproductive Resource Services; 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 National Cancer Institute’s Gynecologic Oncology Group.
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Contact
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island
Susan McDonald
401-276-7886
www.womenandinfants.org
Susan McDonald
401-276-7886
www.womenandinfants.org
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