Annual Cancer Benefit Hits Home for Chappaqua Swim & Tennis

As members of the Chappaqua Swim & Tennis Club, seven-year-old Max Chwatko and his family had previously participated in Swim Across America to raise money for cancer research, prevention and treatment.

This year’s event, scheduled for next Sunday morning at the club on Hardscrabble Road, has entirely new meaning for them.

Chwatko’s five-year-old sister Scarlett is receiving treatment for a brain tumor. Next weekend, Max, who attends Roaring Brook Elementary School, has put together a team of about 25 people who will generate donations from sponsors.

As of last Friday, his team has raised about $10,000 with donations still coming in.

“We went to the event before but it wasn’t as important before my sister got cancer, and then when she got cancer it became very important,” said Chwatko, a member of the club’s swim team who is set to swim a half-mile on Sunday. “I just made a team out of my friends that I knew.”

His mother, Robin, said when Max learned of his sister’s illness, it was his idea to put together a team for Swim Across America. The fact that the event involves one of his favorite activities at one of his favorite places and it would be to help people who are in a similar situation as his sister, it made sense that he would take the initiative to form a team.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Robin Chwatko said. “That’s the kind of kid that he is.”

Unfortunately, the Chwatkos aren’t the only ones who find themselves with a battle on their hands. There are several other Chappaqua Swim & Tennis Club members who have been diagnosed with various forms of cancer within the past year.

As a result, this year’s event will take on greater significance for the club and may be a little more subdued, said Carrie Dillon, a committee member for Swim Across America’s Long Island Sound chapter, which Chappaqua’s swim is part of.

Last year, the club’s swimmers, along with money from raffles, a silent auction and donations from local businesses, raised about $70,000, she said.

“There are people who we all know and see every day battling different types of cancer,” Dillon said. “In previous years there are people who have extended family members or friends had been impacted by the disease, but over the course of the summer, or the year, there were a few people who were diagnosed.”

For many participants like Dan Levy, coach of the club’s champion swim team, participating in the event is a meaningful way to honor loved ones who have been lost to cancer. Levy lost his sister to colon cancer a few years ago.

“Swim Across America has become a way for me to cope with my grief and also inspire swimmers and even non-swimmers to swim laps for this cause,” he said. “Sadly, everyone has been touched in some way by this horrible disease. It is empowering to come together and do something about it.”

Dillon said it’s uplifting to get children involved, and that it is great to see many of Max’s friends come out early on Sunday morning to participate and support him and his family.

“Max is a special case but his peers are inspired to do what they can,” she said.

Since 1992, when the Long Island Sound chapter was formed, it has raised about $15 million. The event in Chappaqua is one of eight events within Westchester and one in Rockland throughout July, including a July 30 swim on the open waters of the sound for those who are more adventurous.

The larger organization, founded in 1987 and now with 50 swims scheduled in 14 states, has raised $60 million in nearly 30 years.

Dillon said swimmers do not have to be a member of Chappaqua Swim & Tennis to participate or make donations. It is scheduled for 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the club at 1019 Hardscrabble Rd. To learn more or to register, visit www.swimacrossamerica.org.