Grace Drawdy is a junior multimedia journalism major from Cumming, Georgia, who competes on the Eagle swimming & diving team. She is part of the Southern Scribes, which consists of Georgia Southern student-athletes writing about their department.

STATESBORO – This September, members of the Georgia Southern women's swimming & diving squad will travel to Lake Lanier to participate in a 5k open water swim for the organization Swim Across America.
 
Swim Across America is a non-profit organization that funds cancer research and clinical trials around the country. The organization hosts just shy of two dozen events around the country, each donating to a different local hospital that specializes in cancer research and treatment. For the Atlanta location, the money fundraised goes to the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders center, which is located at Children's Hospital of Atlanta.
 
"Finding the cure to cancer has been a passion of mine from a young age," said junior swimmer Grace Drawdy. "When I first learned about Swim Across America, it combined my two favorite things, finding a cure to cancer and my joy for swimming. Cancer takes the lives of so many of our loved ones, and through Swim Across America, we can take part in the fight to cure such a deadly disease."
 
Not only are the Eagles excited for this opportunity, but the CEO of Swim Across America, Rob Butcher, is excited for the opportunity. Butcher was a member of the men's swimming and diving team while that team was active at Georgia Southern. Unfortunately, Butcher lost his mother after graduation to cancer, and Swim Across America was an amazing opportunity for him to help others fight against cancer.

This is the first time the Georgia Southern swimming & diving program has participated in the event as a team and head coach Allyson Sweeney hopes to make this a long-standing tradition within the program.
 
"Being a program, whose culture is centered around servant leadership, we are so excited to have the opportunity to participate in this year's event and hopefully many more in the years to come," says head coach Allyson Sweeney.
 
The organization brings together participants of varying ages, swimming skill levels, and personal backgrounds to gather around one common cause, finding the cure to cancer.

 
 
"My mom, Maria, was a regular at our GSU swim meets and my biggest champion," Butcher explained. "Unfortunately, my mom passed a few years after my graduation from an aggressive form of cancer for which surgery and chemotherapy weren't good treatment options. I was looking for a way to honor my mom and raise money to help others so I got involved as a volunteer with Swim Across America. When SAA was looking for a new CEO (2015) they asked if I would be interested. So much progress with new cancer treatments and detection has happened because of grant funding from organizations like Swim Across America. The innovation and progress to give hope to others will continue with support from our Eagle family."
 
Fans interested in helping the Eagles raise money for the event can go to the link labeled "Georgia Southern's Team Page" at the top of the release or scan the QR code below to donate to the Eagles. A leaderboard can be found on the Swim Across America – Atlanta page to see how Georgia Southern stacks up against others participating in the event.

The Eagles challenged themselves to raise $400 per athlete as well as bring awareness of Swim Across America to the Georgia Southern family of donors and outreach.
 
"I really hope our team sees that although our individual contribution may be small, we can have a huge impact on our communities" says senior Abby Schoppa. "I hope that inspires them to find more opportunities to participate in, and continue to make an impact."

Swim Across America is a charity that awards grants to cancer research and patient programs. SAAs first charity swim was in 1987 with a relay swim across Long Island Sound. The cause has grown from a single charity swim to 25 across the country. SAA has granted more than $100M to cancer research that has helped developed new cures like immunotherapy and personalized medicine. The GS Eagles will be participating as Team Georgia Southern Swimming in the Sept. 23 charity swim in Atlanta. SAA's very own GS swimming alum Rob Butcher ('94) is the CEO of Swim Across America.
 
History, highlights, impact, and more about Swim Across America can be found here.