Photo: Cate Brown Photography
Elizabeth Beisel is “humbled and honored” to have made history as the first woman to swim from mainland Rhode Island to Block Island.
The three-time Olympian, 29, completed the 10.4-mile swim Saturday in five hours and 19 minutes, according to a news release from Swim Across America. Beisel helped raise funds for the nonprofit for cancer research and patient programs in honor of her father, Charles “Ted” Lyons Beisel, who died in July after battling pancreatic cancer.
“As a child growing up in Rhode Island and swimming in the ocean along our beautiful coastline, I always dreamed of swimming to Block Island,” she said in the release. “I envisioned my dad on the island waiting for me to finish with an ear-to-ear grin on his face — how proud he would be that I made it.”
Elizabeth’s initial goal was to raise $5,000 for Block Cancer. She has raised over $135,000 to date.
Cate Brown Photography
TheSurvivoralum said her father was confident that she would accomplish her goal, “and that helped sustain him during his final months.”
“Elizabeth has been supporting Swim Across America for many years, even before her father’s diagnosis, so this was our opportunity to support her,” Rob Butcher, CEO of Swim Across America, said in the release.
During an appearance onGood Morning Americaearlier this month, Elizabeth revealed that the idea for the fundraiser came after her father was first diagnosed with cancer on Christmas Day in 2020.
“He didn’t want the swim to be about him whatsoever,“she told the show at the time. “He wanted it to be about everybody who was fighting cancer. It gave my dad a lot of joy to kind of see Block Cancer come into fruition and turn into what it is now.”
“As sad as it is, cancer is going to touch all of us in some way at some point,” she explained. “And, you know, for me, to be able to have a platform where I can bring people together … it’s kind of a beautiful thing.”
source: people.com
