Nantucket Cottage Hospital today announced that an anonymous donor has stepped forward with a $25,000 challenge grant toward Grant Wentworth’s solo swim from Cape Cod to Nantucket to benefit the hospital’s cancer care program.

The challenge grant means that every dollar contributed to Wentworth’s swim up to $25,000 will be matched by this anonymous donor, with a goal of pushing his fundraising total over $150,000 before he embarks from Cape Cod in late July.

Through the Swim Across America charitable organization, Grant has already raised over $105,000 to benefit Nantucket Cottage Hospital’s oncology program, which provides on-island care for Nantucket cancer patients and brings oncologists from the Mass General Cancer Center to the island.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW!

“Cancer has touched all our lives, and there are a lot of cancer charities out there, but the Nantucket community is something I feel close to from my time there,” Wentworth said. “So for a swim in the water up there, I couldn’t think of a better cause to be the recipient of this.”

No one has attempted a solo swim across the 30 miles of open water between Nantucket and Cape Cod in nearly three decades. The only man known to have successfully completed a solo crossing is Paul Asmuth, an International Swimming Hall of Famer who swam from Nantucket to Hyannis in just over 12 hours back in 1986.

In late July, Wentworth will attempt a solo swim from Cape Cod to Nantucket – the opposite direction of Asmuth’s crossing in ’86 – in what will be an incredible test of his stamina, willpower and mental toughness.

The sheer logistics of the swim are imposing. Wentworth plans to start from Cape Cod’s Seagull Beach in West Yarmouth around 1 a.m., swimming for the first few hours in the dark before sunrise. Ensuring his safety during the trek across Nantucket Sound will be a team of supporters aboard two boats and kayaks who will follow him along the way. Wentworth’s goal is to finish at Great Point – the northern tip of the island closest to Cape Cod – but given the uncertainty of the winds and tides, he knows his landing point could be anywhere along Nantucket’s north shore.

Rather than set an arbitrary date for the swim, Wentworth has targeted a weeklong window – July 24^th to July 31^st – in order to take advantage of the most ideal conditions in which to embark from Cape Cod.

To prepare for the Cape Cod-to-Nantucket swim, the 28-year-old Nantucket summer resident is training with the assistance of Chloë McCardel, one of the world’s most accomplished open water swimmers who has completed seven solo crossings of the English Channel, and won the 28.5 mile Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in 2010.

Learn more about Wentworth’s swim click here.

To donate to Wentworth’s swim, visit his Swim Across America page.

To get actively involved with Swim Across America on Nantucket, please participate in the annual island event happening this year on August 22^nd. Swim Across America Nantucket also supports the NCH oncology program in addition to Palliative and Supportive Care of Nantucket (PASCON), and this year’s goal is to raise $300,000 for on-island cancer care. Support a local swimmer, join a team or volunteer! Learn more on the SAA-Nantucket web site.