Swim for Life Celebrates Twenty Years

Provincetown's post-Labor Day tradition of Swim for Life began in the summer of 1988 when Jay Critchley and Walter McLean decided to test their swimming skills by crossing the Provincetown Harbor. As Critchley recalls, "Walter and I were swimming in the harbor regularly during the summer, and we thought we have this amazing harbor in front of us, let's see if we can swim across it. Then we thought wow, this is fantastic, let's do a fundraiser and invite other people." Living to tell the tale, Critchley and McLean organized the first Swim for Life on Sunday, September 9, 1988 by rounding up 16 other swimmers who braved the 1.4-mile open water swim from the Boatslip out to Long Point. Chuck Vetter made a grand entrance with a long black wig, high heels, and a paper bag filled with crumpled bills. Singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with bagpipe accompaniment before taking the plunge, the swimmers of the inaugural Swim for Life raised $6,000 in pledges for local health organizations.

In its second year, Swim for Life reversed its route to start at Long Point and end at the Boatslip, and the event increased fourfold as 89 swimmers raised $27,000. Among the top fundraisers was Ryan Landry, who had just learned to swim the summer before, saying, "Before that I just paddled." As the numbers of swimmers and pledges steadily increased over the years, the event expanded with the addition of the Mermaid Brunch at the Hans Hofmann House in 1991. The celebratory brunch floated in later years to Bas Relief Park, the Provincetown ferry, the Crown & Anchor, and finally anchored at the Boatslip, where it will be held for the third time in 2007.

As Swim for Life shifted to Saturday for the first time in 1993, this year also marked the birth of the Prayer Ribbons. Each ribbon is inscribed with the name of a loved one from the past or present, providing a visual witness to a multitude of personal legacies. This tradition has amassed thousands of multi-colored ribbons that are strung around town, across Commercial Street and around the deck of the Boatslip Resort, where they offer a colorful, fluttering welcome to the hundreds of swimmers and spectators at the finish line.

The swim grew into a weekend-long event in 1994 with the addition of the Celebration of Life concert, organized by John Thomas and Jim Vincent at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House. This annual concert is Provincetown's longest-running free music festival, and it returns to the UU for its 14th year this Friday evening with Jon Arterton, Adam Berry, Peter Donnelly, Zoe Lewis, Sylvie Richard, Bobby Wetherbee and many other local talents.

By 1995, the harbor swim had swelled its numbers to 169 people who raised $78,000, and Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) honored Swim for Life with their annual award for community service. Also this year, Selectman David Atkinson protested the National Seashore's ban on nudity by completing the event naked, and ten years later, Gary Reinhardt's dog Spot became the first dog to swim for life. In 2002, the event reached a milestone of $1,000,000 in funds raised.

Buoyed by the efforts of 200 volunteers and 300 swimmers each year from throughout the country and abroad, Swim for Life has grown into a vibrant yearly celebration of the Provincetown community. This year's swim on Saturday, September 8 will be broadcast live on WOMR 92.1 FM from 10 AM to noon, and Provincetown Community TV (PTV) will be interviewing swimmers from noon to 3 PM for the Swim for Life Moving Image Archive. As in prior years, the Provincetown Rescue Squad, the Provincetown Harbormaster, the US Coast Guard, the lifeguard team led by Patrick Finn, and the Swim for Life medical team will join the teams of kayakers and boaters in patrolling the waters to ensure the safety of all swimmers.

Each year, a veteran volunteer and supporter of the community is named the David Asher Volunteer of the Year, in honor of the former Swim for Life organizer who passed away in 2000. This year's honoree is Wayne Ryerson, the chairman of the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown who has been involved in Swim for Life for 11 years. To date, 36 individuals have been inducted into the Circle of Honor in recognition of their achievement of either swimming in ten events or raising $10,000. While not all swimmers are such prodigious fundraisers, each Swim for Life participant is expected to raise a minimum of $100 in pledges. $150 earns a Swim for Life Tshirt, and swimmers who raise $500 will receive a signed print by Susan Baker, the North Truro artist who has created the design for this year's event.

The funds raised by Swim for Life are donated to community health organizations, including Helping Our Women, which works to educate, empower and support women with chronic and life-threatening illnesses, and the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, which offers a wide range of direct services and support to its Cape-wide clients. Also benefiting from Swim for Life are Outer Cape Health Services, a comprehensive community health center providing care and services for the HIV/AIDS population, and the Cape and Islands Gay Straight Youth Alliance which celebrates the diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and straight youth.

Swim for Life has a personal and emotional significance to so many of those who have either swum or volunteered over the past 20 years. Jay Critchley explains, "Some people do it to prove something to themselves, to conquer their fears of the water. Others swim for someone who is sick or died of cancer or AIDS. People make a high-energy connection at Swim for Life, and it helps people to connect to Provincetown- whether they've visited or lived here, it's a return home for a lot of people." As Tom McGarrity said back in 1990 after completing the third Swim for Life, "It was the greatest high. I didn't come down for days. I had lost two friends to AIDS, and I dedicated the swim to Julio and Sam. I wrote their names on each shoulder, so I knew as I entered the water I had a guardian angel to take care of me. It was a constructive and positive way to deal with my grief and loss." Daryel Duhaime echoed the sentiment in 1994 by saying, "I was determined to gear the rest of my life towards helping others, for those who may not have a second chance."

For more information on Swim For Life and volunteer opportunities,
www.swim4life.org.