WESTON, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams joined thousands of athletes from collegiate, high school, and club teams across the nation and abroad on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate the 12th Annual Ted Mullin “Leave it in the Pool” Hour of Power Relay for Sarcoma Research, sponsored by Carleton College swimming and diving teams.
The Hour of Power event honors those who are fighting or have succumbed to cancer, including former Carleton swimmer Edward H. "Ted" Mullin, who passed away from synovial sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer, in September 2006. The annual swim relay, which now includes dryland teams as well, has grown from 15 teams in its first year to over 160 teams and more than 7,500 athletes across the nation and the world in recent years. Participating swim teams engage in continuous relays of any stroke for a full hour of all-out swimming.
In the event’s first 11 years, participating teams have raised $670,000 to support research at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital into the causes and treatment of sarcoma and other rare pediatric cancers. From all sources, the Ted Mullin Fund has now raised over $1 million.
The funds have been used for a variety of projects that evaluate the genetic basis of sarcomas, the identification of novel markers of disease diagnosis or progression, and the development of new small molecule and cell therapies for resistant disease. As of November 14, 2017, 146 teams including an estimated 7,400 athletes have registered for the 2017-18 Ted Mullin Hour of Power Relay. Registration is still underway and more teams are expected to take part.
“It’s always nice when the teams gets the opportunity to take part in an event like this one,” said head coach James Sweeney. “It really makes you feel like you are part of something bigger than just a college swim team.”
Interested collegiate, high school and club teams are invited to register for the 2017-18 Hour of Power and find more information at http://go.carleton.edu/HourOfPower. You can also contact Carleton College head coach Andy Clark at aclark@carleton.edu or Rick Mullin at rmullin@tedmullinfund.org.
#RegisMSWIM | #RegisWSWIM