St. Peter, Minn. – It was not an ordinary Thursday evening 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 nation in support of the Ted Mullin “Leave it in the Pool” Hour of Power Relay. Over the first eight years of this event, participants raised over $500,000 to support research at the University of Chicago into the causes and treatment of sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer, in young people.
“The Hour of Power is always a special day for us,” said head coach Jon Carlson. “It’s a connection we have with a lot of people, not just on our team, but with many others outside the Gustavus community, including Carleton where Ted swam and with the 170+ schools that do it across the nation. It’s certainly holds a special meaning for us too, with the loss of Grace a year and a half ago. 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 and raise awareness for a great cause at the same time.”
Coach Carlson’s Gusties have been taking part in the Ted Mullin “Hour of Power” Relay since its inception in 2006. Mullin was a former Carleton College swimmer who passed away from sarcoma in the fall of 2006. 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 that fuels both team spirit and team energy and the event 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.
“This is something our kids really attack and look forward to every year to think about and honor those who have had cancer,” said Carlson. “It’s a chance for them to take step back and look at the big picture, push themselves in the sport they love and support and appreciate their teammates. I really believe it is an inspiring event that gets our kids fired up and they’re certainly showing that inspiration today.”
Last year’s event included 107 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 two Masters teams in Sweden, South Caicos Dragons of the Sea on Turks and Caicos Islands 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