Swimming & Diving Teams Participate in Hour of Power for Cancer Research
HADLEY, Mass. – On Tuesday, Nov. 9, all 11 NESCAC swimming & diving teams jumped into the pool at 5:00 p.m. as part of the Ted Mullin Hour of Power Relay. The relay, now in its fifth year, raises funds for sarcoma research at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital in memory of Mullin, a former member of the Carleton College swim team who died in the fall of 2006 from a rare soft-tissue cancer known as sarcoma.
The Hour of Power Relay is a one-hour practice event during which participants "leave it in the pool" by swimming all-out in continuous relays. College, high school, and club teams all swim at the same time across the country, and participants in the event gather pledges and donations to support the Ted Mullin Fund for Sarcoma Research. The event has grown from 15 teams in its first year to 134 squads in 2009, including 103 collegiate teams, and has managed to raise $190,000 over that span.
This past November, 96 collegiate institutions had committed to take part in the 2010 edition of the Hour of Power and the NESCAC was the only conference in the country to have all of its members participate in the event. To showcase their solidarity in supporting the Ted Mullin Fund, students from the conference donned green swim caps that featured the NESCAC logo. Proceeds from the sale of the $10 caps were included as part of each team's Hour of Power donation.
Colby has been just one of the many NESCAC teams that have helped grow the annual fundraising event to what it is today. The Mules were one of the original 15 teams to participate in the first Hour of Power Relay and have worked closely with Carleton and the Mullin family to promote it at both the national and international level. In addition to the members of the Colby community who swam on Nov. 9 in Waterville, squads with Colby affiliations participated in the Hour of Power in Denmark, Ireland, and Spain. Ted's brother Evan was a former swimmer for the Mules and graduated in 2008, while his sister Catherine has been a three-year member of the women's team and will receive her degree in the spring of 2011.
Participation in this year's Hour of Power Relay was not limited to just the conference's swimming & diving teams. At Trinity, the women's basketball team took a break from practice and walked across the hall to support their fellow Bantams by cheering on the 34 members of the swim team. Hamilton had Jena Vicks, a local community member and master swimmer, join the 48 students and three coaches in the pool. A cancer survivor, Vicks talked to the Continentals about the significance of research and studies that the Hour of Power helps support. She also spent time swimming in each lane throughout the hour.
More information on the Hour of Power Relay for Cancer Research can be found on the Carleton College swimming & diving website.
