Tyler Roethke & Grant Wentworth to Attempt Swim Across Vineyard Sound to Benefit Nantucket Cottage Hospital

Two accomplished swimmers will attempt to swim across Vineyard Sound this weekend to raise critical funds for cancer care on Nantucket with proceeds benefiting the Swim Across America-Nantucket charity.

Tyler Roethke, who graduated from Nantucket High School this year as an All-American swimmer and 8-time state champion, will join long-distance swimmer and island summer resident Grant Wentworth in the swim from Cape Cod to Martha’s Vineyard.

Roethke and Wentworth have both pledged to attempt the 10k open water swim as a personal challenge while at the same time aiming to raise $50,000 for Nantucket Cottage Hospital and Palliative & Support Care of Nantucket (PASCON) through Swim Across America Nantucket. On August 1, a matching grant in the amount of $10,000 was received to support the two swimmers’ fundraising efforts.

“This is an opportunity to continue to raise awareness for a cause that does not simply disappear because there is no Swim Across America Nantucket event this year,” Roethke said. “The cause doesn’t go away and neither does our fight, so, for me this opportunity was impossible to pass up and I believe it will be an experience of a lifetime out there.” (more…)