Since its launch in April 2010, the Swim Challenge has attracted international participation with the majority of swimmers coming from the U.S., but also with participants from 49 other countries such as Spain, France, Switzerland, Italy and Canada. The website's "leader meter," which tracks the total time swam (men vs. women), has shown the lead alternating between each gender. While the ladies started strong with more women swimming fewer hours, the men rallied back to take the lead (for now) with fewer swimmers swimming longer hours.
But what really matters is the "Donation Dashboard." Rather than simply write a check, Aqua Sphere has pledged $35,000 to be split between the Prostate Cancer Foundation (men) and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (women) - how that money is divided is determined by the cumulative hours swam by each gender. The "Donation Dashboard" displays the current breakdown of those funds.
"The Swim Challenge is a great way for men and women to battle against each other to show who will fight harder for their Cancer foundation," says Terenzo Bozzone, winner of 18 international triathlon titles. "With the men swimming for prostate cancer and the woman battling it out for breast cancer, there will be no real loser."
The Swim Challenge will run through November 30 2010; swimmers of all abilities can sign-up and sign on to www.swimchallenge.org each day to log their hours (not their laps) in the water.
For more information on the Swim Challenge, visit www.swimchallenge.org or join the Swim Challenge Facebook fan site. Twitter users can also follow swim_challenge for the latest updates.
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® (BCRF) was founded in 1993 by Evelyn H. Lauder as an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to funding innovative clinical and translational research. In October 2009, BCRF awarded nearly $28.5 million to 173 scientists across the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. BCRF perseveres in directing at least 85 cents of every dollar raised directly to research. And for the eighth consecutive year, BCRF received Charity Navigator's highest rating, four stars, thus outperforming over 99.8% of the 5,400 evaluated charities, while the American Institute of Philanthropy has awarded BCRF its highest possible rating of A+. BCRF is the only breast cancer organization in the U.S. to receive these accolades. For more information about BCRF, visit www.bcrfcure.org.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) was founded in 1993 to find better treatments and a cure for prostate cancer. Through its unique model for soliciting and selecting promising research programs and rapid deployment of resources, the PCF has funded more than 1,500 programs at nearly 200 research centers in 20 countries around the world. The PCF is a force of HOPE for more than 16 million men and their families around the world who are currently facing the disease. For more information, visit http://www.pcf.org
