The Charlotte-based nonprofit has raised more than $100 million for cancer research.
by Michelle Boudin
It all started in 1987 with a simple swim across the Long Island Sound and a handful of Olympians looking to give back.
“The concept was, let’s raise money for cancer research by doing charity swims. And having the athletes on board really helped give us momentum,” explains Swim Across America CEO Rob Butcher.
That first swim raised $5,000 and spawned a series of events that now stretch across 27 U.S. communities and have raised more than $100 million. The nonprofit funds cancer research and early-stage clinical trials, some of which have led to major breakthroughs.
Butcher moved Swim Across America’s headquarters to Charlotte in 2015 and launched the first Charlotte swim in 2017, with proceeds supporting Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute. Since then, the Charlotte swims have raised more than $1 million for LCI and Levine Children’s Hospital.
More than 300 swimmers, volunteers and supporters participate in Charlotte’s annual open water swim, which will be held Oct. 5 at Camp Thunderbird at Lake Wylie. It’s one of 24 open water swims held nationwide, along with hundreds of pool swims.
“In every community where we do a swim, all the money raised stays in that community. The model is that a hospital like Levine — or in New York, Memorial Sloan Kettering — they all have in-house peer review teams. They know who has the best ideas and who doesn’t have funding, and that’s where we come in.”
Butcher says the need for fundraising is bigger now than ever before.
“It’s even more challenging now with the chaos of funding with the National Institutes of Health. Philanthropy is even more important now. The funding was there before, but now organizations like Swim Across America, we are the ones awarding grants. The number of oncologists calling us to ask if we’re going to provide funding — there are more and more every day.”
Butcher first joined Swim Across America because of his own connection to cancer — he lost his mom in 2007.
“When she passed away, the only options available to her were surgery, chemo and radiation. I watched her go through all of that and wanted to do something in my mom’s memory … Today there are other options available that weren’t available for my mom.”
One of the organization’s greatest areas of impact is immunotherapy, a treatment that uses the body’s own immune system to fight and destroy cancer cells. Swim Across America began giving money to help with immunotherapy research and clinical trials decades ago. Oncologists say these grants played a major role in creating some of the most effective new treatments for cancer patients, including the development of four FDA-approved immunotherapy drugs.
“We helped with Keytruda,” Butcher says. “The researcher that had the idea for genetic testing was presented to us in 2008, and he didn’t have any funding.” Butcher says Swim Across America provided initial funding for the research that led to the cancer drug and continued funding it through the trials phase.
While touting the impact of Swim Across America, Butcher says the best part about his work is seeing firsthand how the organization affects individuals and families.
“There’s a lot of personal connection and inspiring personal stories in the work that we do,” Butcher says. “I’m at the finish line with a microphone, so as participants come out of the water, I ask them why was being here important. Some of the answers will rip your heart out because of what cancer did to their family. Others are survivors, and it lifts our spirits up enormously.” SP
Swim Across America’s 2025 Open Water Swim is Oct. 5 at Camp Thunderbird in Lake Wylie.
