Southeastern Swim Club raises breast cancer awareness

Recently, the Southeastern Swim Club started a trend - one with grand intentions. In an effort to promote awareness throughout its program, and especially with its younger swimmers, the SSC purchases specialized pink team swim caps with the "Susan G. Komen for the Cure" symbol on them. The caps were presented to each of the SSC's swimmers in return for a small donation. Last week, SSC and Hamilton Southeastern swim coach Andy Pedersen and the SSC swimmers presented a $500 check to Dana Curish, the executive director of the Indianapolis-affiliate of Komen for the Cure. "This was one of the most creative and fun ideas that I've seen to engage young people in the fight to end breast cancer," Curish remarked. "The team raised a great deal of money, but that was only a small part of the good they accomplished." SSC swimmer wore the caps at several swim meets across the state and the response was overwhelming, said Pedersen. "Almost every meet we go to, coaches, athletes, and fans of other teams ask us where we got these caps and how they can get them," he said. "Fortunately, any team can have their supplier do the same thing and it is our challenge to each team in the state to do this. It has had an enormous impact on our team from an awareness standpoint and our younger athletes have been especially inquisitive about breast cancer. This situation has definitely led to many teachable moments for our staff." The idea, according to Pedersen was consistent with the club's mission "to teach its athletes life skills that are important both in and out of the pool." "The caps raised awareness of this issue among hundreds of young people who probably never heard of breast cancer let alone understood how serious it is," Curish remarked. "How many of the team's mothers and grandmothers or other women at the various swim meets saw the caps and realized that they needed to get their annual mammogram? I have no doubt the team's efforts saved lives."