CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — VCU’s Massey Cancer Center will receive $45,000 in cancer research funding, thanks to a diverse group of swimmers across Central Virginia.
Sunday morning, Swim Across America – Richmond held its sixth annual Swim Across America pool swim, with participants ranging from two to 82 years old. For about an hour, swimmers and their teams sped back and forth, lap after lap, lane by lane at Quest Swimming in Midlothian. As they worked to stay afloat, they fundraised for VCU, specifically funding research targeting pediatric blood cancer patients.
WTVR “My research, and many other young researchers all over the country, is only possible because of you guys,” said Dr. Elizabeth Krieger with VCU.
They swim for folks like George Sushkoff, a Henrico resident who swam to support the organization for years, not knowing that one day, he would be on the receiving end of their work.
In 2023, he was diagnosed with stage 2 colon cancer.
“Suddenly that changes your outlook again,” he said during a 2023 interview with CBS 6.