Tartans Swim to Support Sarcoma Cancer Research

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - Each November the Carnegie Mellon University men's and women's swimming and diving teams participate in the Ted Mullin "Leave it in the Pool Hour of Power" Relay. The event marks the sixth year the team participated in the relay.  The event helps raise funds to support research at the University of Chicago into the causes and treatment of sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer, in young people.

Started in 2006, the Ted Mullin Hour of Power relay initially included 15 teams, and has since expanded to over 170 collegiate, high school, and club programs and now includes more than 8,300 athletes. The relay lasts one hour and is a continual all-out sprint at maximum effort. The Hour of Power relay is in honor of Ted Mullin, a swimmer from Carleton College, who died in the fall of 2006 from sarcoma. Over the past seven years, participating programs have raised money for the Ted Mullin Fund for Sarcoma Research at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. Since the start of the program, the Hour of Power has raised over $410,000 in donations for sarcoma research.

Senior Eddie Sears commented, "The Hour of Power is important to our team because it is our chance to help support a cause that is very close to our team. It was started by the Carleton College Swim Team and I think that it really signifies the close-knit nature of the swimming community."

The Tartans are holding their Hour of Power Tuesday, November 12.  Last year the team raised more than $2,000 during the event and is hoping to improve on this number.