$10,046
Raised of $7,500
Team RBG
Team Profile
Team participating in Swim Across the Sound 2024
Captained by Dan Head
Our Mission
Friends,
As many of you know, Team RBG will be competing again in the Swim Across the Sound to support St. Vincent's Hospital's Cancer Center. The Swim is a 15-mile open water event that starts in Port Jefferson, NY, and finishes on the far side of Long Island Sound in Bridgeport, CT.
Team RBG is an all-veteran team entered in the Classic (No Wetsuit) category, which means that we'll swim as a relay, taking half-hour pulls while a boat motors slowly alongside us. We have a team of legitimately talented swimmers -- some from the Army Swim Team, some experienced triathletes, and one, Stephen, who played Water Polo at UCLA.
We train hard, but really, the Swim is not about swimming. It's a charity fundraiser that funds community outreach for cancer screenings as well as familial financial support for those who undergo cancer treatments. Alas, my friends, cancer ain’t cheap. The Swim helps pay mortgage and electric bills for those undergoing treatment, taking at least one stressor off of already stressed families.
When you're fighting cancer, you need all your energy to win that fight.
As many of you know, my family has all passed on now, mostly due to cancer. My mother and all of my grandparents died from cancer. My father got cancer but survived, though he struggled mightily with its aftereffects.
As you can imagine, this is an important cause for me. If you can help, please consider it. Large or small, all contributions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Beat Cancer!!!
Team Members 5
Dan Head
Kar Nowakowski
Elise Holtan
Stephen Thomas
DAVID SAWYER
Dan Head
4 mo. ago
Happy Friday, friends!
Just wanted to take a minute to give some final thoughts on this year’s Swim Across the Sound.
When all was said and done, Team RBG raised over $9000 to help BEAT CANCER. We also finished an outstanding 4th out of 17 teams in the Classic (No Wetsuit) division. Considering that we are all mostly in our mid-to-late 40s or early 50s, we all thought that was pretty darned good.
Speaking personally, I enjoyed this year’s Swim as much as I’ve enjoyed anything swim-related in quite a long time. We had a great team, an outstanding boat captain in the Housatonic Boat Club’s Chris Reinhardt, and a Hell of a lot of fun out there by any possible measure.
Thank you all for your support. We legitimately could not do this without you!
Until next time,
Dan
Dan Head
4 mo. ago
Friends,
Team RBG had a banner week this week, totalling over $8,000 in donations from our incredibly generous friends and families. I feel truly blessed and humbled by your outpouring of support this past week, and indeed, throughout this whole season. The Swim changes lives, especially mine. Watching my own friends and collegues come together to support my cause has been a life-changing, life-affirming event in an increasingly hostile and polarizing world.
We all need to feel loved, and we all need to feel needed. I felt both in abundance this week. That's not down to MY efforts. That's because of all of YOU.
Thank you.
I love all of you very much.
For those of you who live anything like locally, I strongly encourage you to come out and watch us finish Saturday afternoon at Captain's Cove in Bridgeport. Help us celebrate our team and the work that the Swim does in our local community. This hasn't been the easiest year to organize Team RBG, but it might have been the most rewarding.
If you're wondering, I've swum more this training cycle than I have at any time since the Glory Days ended way back in 1995. I've had every kind of day you can imagine in the pool over the past few months, including a few where I actually felt like my old self. At times, I've even found myself thinking, "Hey. Y'know, I'm actually good at this."
Part of me can't help wishing that you all could have seen me back in the the Old Days, when I really WAS good. Mostly, though, I'm grateful just to be happy and healthy enough to do this, and to have the support of friends and family pushing me along.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
--Dan
Dan Head
5 mo. ago
Friends,
Team RBG finished the month of June strong! After some uncertainty about who was gonna be able to make it out to the Swim this season, Stephen and Dave both signed on again, and Kar joined our team for his first Swim. That brought us to five swimmers for the coming event and -- God willing -- a strong finish.
I'm excited because Dave is just coming off a really good showing in the 500 Free at Master's Nationals, and given that he lives in Indiana, it was never a given that he'd be able to make it out this year. As noted, we've also brought on Kar this season. Kar swam at Iona and today works as a lawyer in Brooklyn. He's our first civilian!
Speaking personally, I've been in the water as much this season as at any time since finishing my formal swimming career way back in 1995. I've slowly ramped up to something like 15K yards/week over the last two months with a goal of hitting 20K yards by mid-July. But we'll see. That's a lot of swimming!
I hope you all have a good 4th of July. Thank you very for your contributions to our team and to the effort to BEAT CANCER!
--Dan
Contributions 90
Thank you for your support of Swim Across the Sound! Find event details, rules and regulations, schedules, and more at the link below. We invite everyone to learn more about Swim Across the Sound, its mission, and the history of this campaign, now in its 37th year!
Learn more about Swim Across the Sound
St. Vincent's Medical Center is a non-profit organization with Tax ID 83-2550272. No goods and/or services were received in consideration of this gift which is tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.