Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
While the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim is one of America’s Top 50 Open Water Swims and one of the World’s Top 100 Open Water Swims, the event has also generated over US$2 million for numerous charities since its founding in 1982.
The event is also affiliated with the Cynthia Earley Educational Foundation.
Headed by Brian Earley, who founded the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim as a tribute to his father who suffered from a diabetes, the mission of the Foundation is to support student-athletes via scholarships. The Foundation has awarded over US$13,000 in scholarships to students who are active in their communities, fundraising for the 1-mile or 4.4-mile Great Chesapeake Bay Swim. The scholarships help pay for the student’s current school, college, university or vocational training.
Past winners include:
2010 – Taylor Smith
2009 – Erin Luley
2008 – Lisa Hertz
2007 – Erin Luley
2006 – Michael Allen
2005 – Ally St. Claire
2004 – David Collier
2003 – Ashley Green
2002 – Ashley Green
2001 – Adrianne Glasgow
2000 – Carly Plantully
1999 – Ashley Mathews
Copyright © 2010 by World Open Water Swimming Association