Members of the Johns Hopkins University men’s and women’s swimming teams raised $13,633 at the 2026 Swim Across America Baltimore Pool Swim, making the Blue Jays the event’s top fundraising team. The event took place at Coppermine Meadowbrook Aquatic and Fitness Center in Baltimore, Maryland, and supported the Swim Across America Lab at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.
The Blue Jays were one of two teams to raise more than $10,000. The 2026 Baltimore Pool Swim raised $106,784 to support the lab.
John Dierkes Helped Build Johns Hopkins’ Connection to the Event
Swim Across America began in 1987 with a charity relay swim across the Long Island Sound to raise money for cancer research. The organization has raised more than $150 million over more than three decades.
John Dierkes, a 1977 graduate of Johns Hopkins and a national champion swimmer for the Blue Jays, began participating in Swim Across America in 1999. He created the Baltimore Swim in 2010 with another Masters swimmer at Meadowbrook and helped involve former Johns Hopkins head coach George Kennedy and the Blue Jay swimming teams in the event.
“I’m very proud to see the men’s and women’s team so involved, beginning with Coach Kennedy and continuing with Coach [Scott] Armstrong,” said Dierkes. “We were so fortunate to bring the Kimmel Cancer Center on as a beneficiary in the beginning and to continue to support its research in the fight against cancer”.
Swim Across America Lab Receives Event Support
The Swim Across America Lab at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins is one of nine named Swim Across America research labs. The 2026 fundraiser supported the lab while the Johns Hopkins University men’s and women’s swimming teams continued their involvement in the Baltimore event.
Maryland Sports Blog Take
The Johns Hopkins University men’s and women’s swimming teams combined community involvement with fundraising leadership at the 2026 Baltimore Pool Swim. Their $13,633 total led all teams at an event that raised $106,784 for cancer research support at Johns Hopkins.
Source: Original report
