Swim Across the Sound – 2025

MSI participated in the 38th annual “Swim Across the Sound” charity event the first weekend of this month. This event raises funds for St. Vincent’s Hospital in Bridgeport, CT. The money raised is made available to the families of patients undergoing cancer treatments at St. Vincent’s. The financial help made available to the families helps to offset lost work, travel and living expenses that the families may incur while supporting their loved ones through the treatments. As of mid-week before the Swim, more than $620,000 had already been raised with pledges coming in even as the swimmers were in the water Saturday. The first-year take in 1987 was $5,000.

This was the third year that MSI has participated. Michael and his sister Denise Olsen operated our 32 foot Wellcraft St Tropez cabin cruiser “That’s Amore II” as an escort boat. On board were six swimmers from one of the five University of Connecticut (UCONN) swim teams to participate in the event. This was our third UCONN team to compete. There were more than (80) boats and (220) swimmers participating this year.

That's Amore II

On Friday, Denise and Michael took the boat across Long Island Sound from its home port in Westbrook, CT to Port Jefferson, NY. On Saturday morning, following the landing of the swimmers at the Port Jefferson ferry terminal on “The Big White Boat”, a short welcoming and prayer ceremony, and breakfast, the swimming began. 

Wow! The first few hours were rough. Seas were consistently running up to three feet with a fairly stiff breeze. The swimmers described it as “swimming uphill”. Conditions on the boat were challenging as we could only motor as fast as the swimmers could proceed. Wallowing in three foot waves was not an optimal situation, however, after a few hours, things calmed down into a beautiful day on the water. Our UCONN team made their way across the 15+ mile course across The Sound arriving at the Connecticut finish at Black Rock Harbor. Following the completion of the swim, a rousing party was held at Captains Cove with ample amounts of drinks, food and awards being distributed to the swimmers, boat Captains and crews, volunteers and sponsors.

Our crew—the only all-women UCONN team—secured third place among the UCONN teams, with the top two spots going to the men’s teams. By Saturday night, we had raised more funds than any other UCONN team. Go Huskies!

On Sunday, Josh Enders joined the crew to bring the boat from Bridgeport back home to Pilots Point Marina. It was a beautiful run home with a great couple of hours “on the hook” at Duck Island before coming into the marina. By the end of the weekend, we learned that nearly $790,000 had been raised, surpassing last year’s total and setting a new record!

The MSI Team is proud to participate in this worthy cause for St. Vincent’s Hospital. We hope that our level-of-effort makes it just a little bit easier for cancer patients and their families to undergo the ordeal of cancer treatment. We look forward to participating again next year.

Save the date for the 2026 Swim Across the Sound being held on August 1, 2026! Take a look at photos from the event HERE.

Michael and Denise pictured with the participating UCONN Swim Club members.