• Patient Care

Media Advisory: Swimming for UCSF Pediatric Cancer Care

By Abigail Mortimore


UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital staff receive the official check from the Swim Across America 2011 fundraising event. Funds raised through this cancer awareness charity and annual local swim event help to support the UCSF Survivors of Childhood Cancer Program.

 

WHAT: Swimming enthusiasts including former Olympians, cancer survivors and former patients will take part in Swim Across America’s seventh annual San Francisco Bay Area Open Water Swim benefiting UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Survivors of Childhood Cancer Program. This event is the primary funding source for the program, which helps pediatric cancer survivors maintain optimal physical and emotional health for the rest of their lives – through clinical care, education and research.

The 1.5-mile swim from the Golden Gate Bridge to Crissy Field will raise money for both UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Oakland through pledges collected by swimmers and through online donations. This year’s swim is expected to raise more than $300,000.

Upon completion of the swim, there will be a celebration and awards ceremony on the beach for participants, families and friends with speeches from former Olympians, doctors and former patients.   

WHEN:

Saturday, September 29, 2012
9-11 am (Swim)
11am – 1pm (Post-swim festivities)                  

WHERE:

Crissy Field East Beach
San Francisco, CA

Participating swimmers will board Hornblower’s San Francisco Spirit yacht from Pier 3 and head for the start of the swim at the Golden Gate Bridge. Post-swim festivities will take place at Crissy Field’s East Beach.

WHO: 

  • Robert Goldsby, MD, UCSF pediatric oncologist and medical director of UCSF Survivors of Childhood Cancer Program
  • Linda Li, UCSF clinical research coordinator
  • Jason Thornton, former patient, UCSF Survivors of Childhood Cancer Program
  • Susan Helmrich, Swim Across America SF Bay Area Event Co-Director
  • 200 swimmers including former Olympians: 2012 gold-medal water polo team members Heather Petri and Annika Dries; bronze-medalist Kim Vandenberg (2008); Dana Kirk (2004); silver and bronze-medalist Ericka Lorenz (2000,2004); silver-medalist Allison Wagner (1996); Katherine Starr (1984,1988); Susan Heon-Preston (1984); gold-medalist Mike Bruner (1976,1980); Kimberly Carlisle (1980), Craig Beardsley (1980)

CONTACT: Media planning to attend should RSVP to Abigail Mortimore at [email protected] or (415) 476-8810.

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