It’s an athletic challenge that is not for the faint of heart: medical professionals are swimming across the Long Island Sound.
The annual Swim Across the Sound Marathon will be on Saturday this year. It is put on by Hartford HealthCare to raise thousands of dollars for oncology programs and cancer patients.
“Those patients and their families definitely go through a lot, and ideally, if we can stand with them in some type of way, it’s what we want to do,” Ben Mucci, physician assistant at Hartford Hospital, said.
From front strokes and flutter kicks, it will be a long day of swimming when doctors and nurses crossing the Long Island Sound.
“We’re all going to feel quite elated! And then the question is whether or not we’re going to be able to move our arms the next day,” Joe Ingrassia, interventional cardiologist at Hartford Hospital said.
Roughly 120 swimmers formed teams of six to conquer the stretch from Port Jefferson, Long Island to Captain’s Cove Seaport in Bridgeport.
For the past 35 years, the event was run by St. Vincent’s Medical Center. Now, it is open to the whole healthcare system for the first time as part of efforts to get more participants involved.
Due to that expansion, Hartford Hospital formed a team for the first time made up of four medical professionals and two fill-ins, including Farmington’s Town Council Chair C.J. Thomas.
“Four to five times a week, I’ll get in and try and to get a couple of miles in a day,” Thomas said.
The team has gotten plenty of lap practice in pools, but that needs to translate to 15.5 miles in open water.
“Each of us, will have to swim about four or five times,” Mucci said. “You’ll get breaks in between swimming, but definitely need to be fit and ready for when your turn is up.”
The marathon has already raised nearly $300,000 via donations to individual swimmers or teams. The Hartford Hospital team gotten more than $10,700 in donations as of Thursday evening.
“The monies that we’re hoping to raise for this initiative are going to go to the patients themselves and whatever individual needs they have, whether it be transportation or childcare, alternative therapies like yoga or art classes, music,” Sarah Hope, registered nurse at Hartford Hospital, said.
“It’s hopeful that things like this, helping people through the struggles, will then free up other money to find the actual cure for cancer,” Thomas said.
For the team, the cause is personal. The Hartford Hospital swimmers recently lost a colleague and mentor to the disease.
“He went through a very long and arduous battle with cancer that we know sort of had a firsthand look at,” Ingrassia said. “He meant a lot to us. And we thought that this would be just a great way to give back and honor his memory.”
It’s why they are plunging into the challenge, pushing forward in solidarity with those pushing to beat cancer.
“Hopefully it just brings a little bit of solace and peace and comfort to know that we are supporting them as a whole person again, not just in their acute needs, but also in their life and how they’re getting through this struggle,” Thomas said.
You can get more details about the Swim Across the Sound Marathon online, and also follow the progress of the Hartford Hospital team.