By John C. O'Connell
By taking on this swim, from Larchmont, N.Y., across the Long Island Sound to Nassau County's North Shore, Infield would, in a way, be competing against cancer.
Infield, 44, of Valley Stream, will join a dozen other swimmers in the ambitious annual "Swim Across America" event on Aug. 16 from the Larchmont Club across the Sound to the beach at Morgan Park in Glen Cove.
The charity swim is a fund-raiser for two important beneficiaries, the "Miracle Building" at Rockville Centre's Mercy Medical Center, the home of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Nassau County, on which construction has begun, and the Swim Across America Laboratory at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
The 22,000-square-foot Miracle Building at Mercy will be one of the most comprehensive radiation and medical oncology outpatient facilities on Long Island, according to Infield.
"Our goal," said Alan Houghton, M.D., and Jedd Wolchok, M.D., Ph. D., in a statement issued from the Swim Across America Lab at Sloan-Kettering, "is to create the most potent vaccines possible against different cancers. We are actively developing vaccines against melanoma, soft-tissue sarcoma, breast cancer, prostate cancer and pancreas cancer, all [now] in clinical trials. ... The ability to rapidly translate laboratory experiments into clinical trials over the past years has been largely dependent on support from Swim Across America. ... Without the support of Swim Across America, development of these vaccines would have taken at least several more years."
This is a cause Infield believes in passionately, and one that "ultimately leaves nobody untouched," he said.
"The incidences of previously healthy people being diagnosed with cancer seems to be rising," Infield said, "and the incredible strain and pain that their families endure is just overwhelming. While I cannot be a direct help to my suffering friends, I can help them indirectly by my swimming. The result of these efforts and those of my swimming colleagues will bring a large and direct benefit to many in our community...."
On the same morning as the 7-mile (10K) Larchmont-Glen Cove swim, there will also be 5K and 1-mile swims starting at points in the Sound and finishing in Glen Cove, also to raise funds to fight cancer.
Infield said that last year nearly 160 swimmers participated in the three events, raising more than $122,000. He hopes those numbers will substantially increase this year, with a target of over $200,000, all of it being distributed to the two Memorial Sloan-Kettering facilities.
Infield is asking people to help him make his fund-raising goal by pledging money for his swim at www.richinfield.chariteam.com.
"With your generosity, I believe this battle against cancer can be fought and ultimately won," Infield said.
For more information about Swim Across America events, call (866) 705-SWIM, write Swim Across America N/S, P.O. Box 7878, Garden City, NY 11530, or visit www.soundtothecove.org.
