Staples Finished Fifth in Swim Across the Sound
August 7, 2011 by Editor
The Staples High School Swim Across the Sound team finished fifth among relay teams and fifth overall in the 24th annual Swim Across the Sound Marathon, which took place on Saturday, August 6. The team, which was captained by Joss Abel, crossed the Sound in just over six hours (6:05:02) and was one of 35 relay teams that made the 15.5 mile journey from Port Jefferson, N.Y. to Captain’s Cove Seaport in Bridgeport.
The team included Joss’s sister Verity, his brother Larry, Gabrielle Wimer and Kyle Bacon. Gabrielle, Joss and Kyle will be seniors at Staples and co-captains of their respective SHS swim teams this year. Verity will be a sophomore and Larry, who graduated from Staples in 2010, is entering his sophomore year at Susquehanna University, where he swims for the Crusaders.
The Staples High School team raised over $11,000 for the St. Vincent’s Swim Across the Sound Foundation. (Last year the Staples team placed 14th, and raised over $10,000.) The St. Vincent’s Foundation provides cancer education, screening and prevention programs for the greater Bridgeport community regardless of whether people have health insurance or not. “We are fortunate to live in Westport, with all its facilities,” said Joss. “But right next door is Bridgeport, where 21 percent of residents live below the poverty line.”
The Staples team swam in honor of Masato Sakaguchi, the four-year-old brother of Fairfield swimmers Miki, Tomoya, Toshi and Yumi. Masato passed away last July after a two-year battle with brain cancer. Verity described him as a “ray of sunshine.” Gabrielle said that they lost a member of their “swim family” when Masato passed away. The Staples swimmers and the Sakaguchi siblings have swum together for years on the Westport Weston Family Y’s Water Rat Swim Team.
The swim also was a celebration of Paul Abel’s good health. The father of the Abel siblings recently passed his five-year cancer-free milestone after a bout with colon cancer.
Click to view photos of the Swim Across the Sound.
