The Gustavus swimming and diving teams took part in the eighth annual Ted Mullin "Hour of Power" on Tuesday night in the Vic Gustafson Pool.
St. Peter, Minn. – It was not an ordinary Tuesday night practice for members of the Gustavus Adolphus men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, as the Gusties joined thousands of athletes across the country in support of the Ted Mullin “Leave it in the Pool” Hour of Power Relay. Over the first seven years of this event, participants raised over $410,000 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 team that has seen first hand the effects of cancer, so this is an event that our program takes very seriously,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson. “Carleton showed both Grace and our team a tremendous amount of support, and this is one small way we can give back and say thank you.”
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.
Coach Carlson’s Gusties have been taking part in the Ted Mullin “Hour of Power” Relay since its inception in 2006. “The Hour of Power is an opportunity our athletes look forward to every year and it’s a great honor to be involved once again,” said Carlson. “The event gives us an opportunity to take a break from our traditional training schedule and forget about the stresses of everyday life. It’s a chance for them to take step back and look at the big picture, push themselves in the sport they love, support and appreciate their teammates, and leave it in the pool amongst their best friends.”
First started to honor former Carleton College (Minn.) 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 171 teams in 2012 with 8,300 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 111 college and university programs representing 38 conferences across NCAA Division I, II and III, and Independents, along with 54 high-school and club teams. Also participating were a Masters team in Sweden and The American International School of Muscat, Oman.
This year’s numbers are on pace to match last year’s totals. All those athletes will hit the pool with a shared goal—to “think outside the pool” in order 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.
For a full description of what participants do during the event and how donated funds are used, please visit http://go.carleton.edu/HourOfPower