Blog

This past week on South Caicos, the staff and students participated in the “Hour of Power” relay. This relay is in honor of Ted Mullin, a Carleton College swimmer who died in 2006 from sarcoma, a rare soft-tissue cancer. Funds raised through the event support research into the causes and treatment of sarcoma.  The event consists of continuous relays, any stroke, all-out swimming for an hour.

This year, 145 teams participated in the relay and for the second year in a row, The School for Field Studies on South Caicos participated, making it one of only four abroad teams involved. The past two years I have participated in the Hour of Power at my home school, Colby College, and this year was given the opportunity to organize the event. Due to our unique location on South Caicos, we decided to put a twist on the traditional swimming relays by adding some island flair. This included the Conch shell relay, where you swim with a Conch shell out of the water, and the lifejacket relay, swimming as fast as possible with a lifejacket on.

We had an amazing time, and it could not have been a better day for the event. The sun was shining on us the whole time and the water was calm and clear. Everyone was down at the dock, either swimming or cheering on the swimmers. It was tough and everyone was exhausted by the end, but we all had an amazing time. Hopefully, this fun and meaningful tradition will be carried on in future years here on South Caicos.

Yvonne Kicken, who’s great with videos, created one for this event. Check it out: