On November 8, Illinois Tech Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving joined thousands of athletes from collegiate, high school, and club teams across the nation and abroad to celebrate the 11th Annual Ted Mullin “Leave it in the Pool” Hour of Power Relay for Sarcoma Research, sponsored by Carleton College Swimming and Diving teams. It was the third straight year the Scarlet Hawks participated in the event.
“We are honored to participate in something that is much bigger than ourselves, raising awareness to this rare form of cancer and helping fund research opportunities to hopefully lead to the end of cancer,” said Illinois Tech’s Head Men’s Swimming and Diving Coach Kyllian Griffin. “The team looks forward to this event every year. It’s a great workout, and a wonderful cause to be a part of.”
The Hour of Power event honors those who are fighting or have succumbed to cancer, including former Carleton swimmer Edward H. “Ted” Mullin, who passed away from synovial sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer, in September 2006. The annual swim relay, which now includes dryland teams as well, has grown from 15 teams in its first year to over 170 teams and more than 8,000 athletes in recent years. Participating swim teams engage in continuous relays of any stroke for a full hour of all-out swimming. Dryland teams engage in their particular sport non-stop for a full hour.
In the event’s first ten years, participating teams have raised over $630,000 to support research at the University of Chicago into the causes and treatment of sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer.
The funds have been used for a variety of projects that evaluate the genetic basis of sarcomas, the identification of novel markers of disease diagnosis or progression, and the development of new small molecule and cell therapies for resistant disease. Each summer, the University also hosts Ted Mullin Fund scholars, offering four Hour of Power participants an opportunity to advance their interest in science and cancer biology by spending 10 weeks in a laboratory under the mentorship of a pediatric cancer researcher within the Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, at the University of Chicago Medicine.
All teams are welcome to participate whether or not they fundraise.
As of November 8, 152 teams including an estimated 7,200 athletes have registered for the 2016 Ted Mullin Hour of Power Relay. Registration is still underway and more teams are expected to take part.
Interested collegiate, high school and club teams are invited to register for the 2016 Hour of Power and find more information here. You can also contact Carleton College head coach Andy Clark at aclark@carleton.edu or Rick Mullin at rmullin@tedmullinfund.org.