SAINT PETER, Minn. – It was not an ordinary Friday evening practice for members of the Gustavus Adolphus College 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 nine years of this event, participants raised over $560,000 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 one of the best days of practice that we have,” said Coach Jon Carlson. “It was special to have Ted Mullin’s mother and father there tp speak to the team, and we were also able to talk about Grace Goblirsch, who passed away from complications of the treatment to leukemia. It was also incredibly inspirational to have our diving coach, Tim Johnson, who is currently living with brain cancer, be able to make it over to speak with the team. Tim had great words for the team and to have his presence there really motivated them.”
Gustavus has taken part in the Hour of Power since its inception in 2006, as the Gusties were one of 12 inaugural teams to participate in the event. 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 intends to fuel both team spirit and 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 was one of the best Hour of Powers we’ve ever had,” said Carlson. “The atmosphere in the last 10 minutes of the relay was one of the coolest I’ve ever been apart of, and the event was a great reminder of how fortunate we all are to be able to compete.”
For more information on the event and instructions on how to donate, visit the Hour of Power homepage.