St. Peter, Minn. – On Tuesday afternoon in the Lund Center Natatorium, the Gustavus Adolphus mens’ and women’s swimming and diving teams joined thousands of athletes across the country by jumping into the pool in support of Carleton College’s Ted Mullin “Leave it in the Pool Hour of Power” Relay. Over the first six years of this nationwide—and worldwide—event, participants raised over $330,000 to support research at the University of Chicago into the causes and treatment of sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer, in young people.
“This is a such a great event and Gustavus is honored to be a part of it once again,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson. “This is something the team looks forward to every year. It’s a great break from our traditional training schedule, it’s for an important and relevant cause, and the swimmers push themselves to the max.”
First started to honor former Carleton swimmer Ted Mullin, who passed away in the fall of 2006 from sarcoma, the Ted Mullin “Hour of Power” Relay has grown from 15 teams in its first year to 160 teams in 2011 with 8,000 participating athletes who joined forces to honor all those who are fighting against or have lost the battle to cancer.
Last year’s event included 107 college and university programs representing 39 conferences across NCAA Division I, II and III, and Independents, along with 46 high-school and club teams. This year’s numbers are on pace to match and possibly exceed last year’s totals. All those athletes will hit the pool with a shared goal—to increase awareness about sarcoma and raise money for the Ted Mullin Fund for Pediatric Sarcoma Research at the Comer Children’s Hospital at the University of Chicago.
Over 145 teams including colleges and universities, high schools, clubs, and international teams have registered to take part this year. Over 7,000 athletes are estimated to have participated in 2012.
For a full description of the event and for more information, visit http://go.carleton.edu/HourOfPower
The event takes place in each team’s home pool and is a one-hour, all-out, leave-it-in-the-pool practice consisting of continuous, any-stroke relays for one hour, with the objective of keeping all relays in each lane on the same length. The all-out 60-minute relay is a challenging workout the fuels both team spirit and team energy.
Funds raised during the event act as seed funding for the University of Chicago’s pediatric sarcoma research program. The program brings together oncologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists and physician scientists who have a particular interest in adolescents and young adults with sarcoma, allowing collaborative efforts in the identification of the causes of sarcoma at the most basic molecular and cellular levels.