The 39th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla Welcomed 276 swimmers and raised over $300,000 for AIDS, women’s health and the community
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Photo by Thomas Hoeffgen
The 39th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla, The Ecology of Care, sponsored by the Provincetown Community Compact, welcomed 276 swimmers and raised over $300,000 for AIDS, women’s health and the community.
Andrea Pluhar receives the David Asher Volunteer Award
https://www.flickr.com/photos/swim4lifephotos/55529288415/in/album-72177720334698021/
With a pristine blue sky and matching water and air temperatures at 72 degrees, the 39th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla welcomed 376 swimmers on September 12, 2026 and raised $300,000 for AIDS, women’s health and the community. This year’s event, The Ecology of Care, sponsored by the Provincetown Community Compact, held Swim events in Provincetown Harbor and Wellfleet Great Pond and supports twenty beneficiaries.
Swim headquarters at Johnson Street beach was basked in sunlight and calm weather, a welcoming site for swimmers, kayakers, volunteers and friends from across the country, with others swimming in place in locations including Vermont, Maryland and North Carolina. There were 26 business sponsors and critical support from 150 volunteers and the Town of Provincetown, particularly from the Provincetown Rescue Squad, the Harbormaster and the DPW.
The David Asher volunteer award recipient was Andrea Pluhar from Wellfleet who has worked with The Compact and volunteered for the Swim for over twenty years. In Wellfleet she organized the Wellfleet Porchfest and her own non-profit, Narrowland Music.
The 1.2-mile swim route in Provincetown Harbor following the East End shoreline, from the Breakwater Hotel to Johnson Street beach, along with the Half-Mile Swim, was sprinkled with over fifty kayakers and safety boats and two Harbormaster vessels. Shoreline Watch Parties cheered the swimmers at St. Mary of the Harbor, Cape Codder Guest House, Angel Foods and numerous private gatherings, including a festive cheering squad to Poor Richard’s Buttery. A special crew of “Rock Stars” protected swimmers from the rock groins along the shoreline route.
The Wellesley High School Swim Team once again electrified the large crowd at pre-Swim registration and at the Swim start with their rousing cheers. The Provincetown Town Crier officially launched the Swim at the start with director Jay Critchley, whose historic red lame flag marked the call.
The intimate headquarters at Johnson Street beach under the big white tent featured the Prayer Ribbons fluttering over the beach and finish line where swimmers were greeted by the medical and check in teams, with backup from the Provincetown Rescue Squad. The Mermaid Brunch followed, catered by Far Land Provisions with music by Lily Mae Harrington and ended with the Awards Ceremony.
Top Swim teams included Lily House, Wellfleet Great Pond Mermaids, Provincetown Film Society, Sustainable Cape Cod, Boston LANES (Liquid Assets New England), Walker Family Swimmers, Friends of Wellfleet Ponds, Choral Reef, Salty Swimmers, Moving Violations, Team AIDS Support Group, Swimberg, WHS Swive 2026, The Golden Family, SwimminWimmin, Infinite Coastline, Team Gebhardt, Oldcodgers, Team Dangelo, 2026 Team M & M, Onset Salty Merpeople, Three 50 and one 21, Young’s Court Youngsters, Philly Dynamic Duo and McKeever Sibs.
Top Fundraisers are: Linda Heard and Janet Villas, Greensboro, North Carolina, $20,665; Mike Dillon, Provincetown, $18,600; Jonathan Scott, Provincetown, $12,401; Brian Sarr, Bedford, MA, $12,125; Jim Youngerman, Lenox, MA, $11,041; Brabara Jo Ravelle, Gainsville, $8,817; Libby Clark, St. Petersburg, FL, $5,875; Amy Graves, North Truro, $4,935; Chris Nagle, North Truro, $4,850; Bette Warner, Wellfleet, $4,600; Kate Wallace Rogers, Provincetown, $3,552; Rosemary O’Leary, Wellfleet, $3,500; Jim Seligman, Provincetown, $3.450; Gabby Hanna, Provincetown, $3,375; Peter Shearer, Provincetown, $3225; Hedda Rublin, Wellfleet, $3,182; Bonnie Bishop, Nahant, MA, $3,175; Jane Barber, Provincetown, $2,985; Vanessa Downing, Brewster, $2,905; Harra Klein, Eastham, $2,885; Walter Family Swim Team, Cambridge, $2.860; Gene Landis, Amesbury, MA, $2,690; Anne Hubbell, Provincetown, $2,595; Brandon MacPherson, Kansas City, $2,500.
The fastest male swimmers are: Michael Goldberg of Seattle at 28:59; Warren Perry of Greenwich, CT at 29:55; and Peter Shearer of Provincetown at 31:22. The fastest female swimmers are: Amy Carow of Wellfleet at 31:39; Sonja Tellander of Wellesley, MA at 32:10; and Jen Grady of Wakefield, MA at 31:15.
The 40th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla will be held on September 12, 2027. For further information go to swim4life.org.
Swim for Life 2026 finish line, photo by Thomas Hoeffgen
