ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. —Hundreds of swimmers took to the waters of Tampa Bay Saturday morning for the annual Swim Across America in St. Petersburg.
The Tampa Bay area is one of twenty cities to hold the fundraiser.
“Today we are out here raising money for cancer care and research,” said organizer Amy Maguire.
She said participants swim a mile or two into Tampa Bay and then come back to shore. They are raising more to benefit cancer research at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and Moffitt Cancer Center. Organizers anticipated raising about $200,000 during the weekend event.
“We are all impacted by cancer and we are here to help save lives,” said Maguire.
Some of the money raised will toward a new cancer study happening at All Children’s Hospital. Doctors are hoping the study will help kids fight cancer.
"This is a local study to see if we are able to rev up a patients immune system to fight a tumor,” said Dr. Peter Shaw.
The Swim Across America event has raised $1.2 million locally for cancer research.
