The 37th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla Most Successful Yet!

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Photo by Mike Syers

The 37th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla, sponsored by the Provincetown Community Compact, welcomes 310 simmers and raises $350,000 for AIDS, women’s health and the community

Joan Nagle receives the David Asher Volunteer Award.

Contact: Jay Critchley

jay@thecompact.org  

Provincetown Independent story

Notes from a naive swimmer

With a north wind calming Provincetown harbor but bringing unseasonably cold water, the 37th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla welcomed 310 swimmers and raised $350,000 for AIDS, women’s health and the community. This year’s event, sponsored by the Provincetown Community Compact, supports thirteen beneficiaries and raised the most funds since it began in 1988.

Swimmers participated from across the country and beyond, including from Geneva, Hong Kong, England, Bulgaria and Canada, while fifteen swam in place in their hometowns. Tim Convery from Tim-Scapes created this year’s design for t-shirts, caps and mugs.There were 28 business sponsors and critical support from the Town of Provincetown, particularly from the Provincetown Rescue Squad, the harbormaster and the DPW.

Joan Nagle of Provincetown received the David Asher Volunteer Award for her decades of coaching and teaching swimming on Cape Cod, including the founding of the Wellfleet Great Pond Mermaids who raised over $20,000 in pledges. There were 28 registered Swim Teams, including Lily House at $68,000 and Team Willapalooza at $8,000. 

The 1.2-mile swim route along the East End shoreline, from the Breakwater Hotel to Johnson Street beach, along with the newly-established Half-Mile Swim, was sprinkled with over fifty kayakers and safety boats and three Harbormaster boats. Shoreline Watch Parties cheered the swimmers at St. Mary of the Harbor, Cape Codder Guest House, Angel Foods and numerous private gatherings.  A special squad of “Rock Stars” protected swimmers from the rock groins along the shore.

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.

This year’s headquarters for registration and the post-Swim festivities was at the intimate setting of Johnson Street beach under the big white tent while Cannery Wharf Park is under construction. With the Prayer Ribbons fluttering over the beach, swimmers were greeted by the medical and finish line teams and joined the Mermaid Tea catered by Far Land Provisions with music by Zoe Lewis.

Top Individual fundraisers are: Mike Dillon at $19,000, and Gail Strickland (Compact Board member) at $13,500 of Provincetown; Brian Sarr, $11,000, Bedford, MA; Jim Youngerman, $10,600, Lenox, MA; Jonathan Scott, $10,500, Provincetown; ; Bonnie Kramer, $9,000 and Barbara Jo Revelle, $8,000, Wellfleet; Hunter Gaiotti, $6,000, Provincetown; Rachel Faukner, $5,600, Washington, SC.Thirty-one swimmers raised over $2,500, with thirty-nine raising over $1000, sharing over $10,000 in prizes from local businesses. 

The 38th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla will be held on September 6, 2025. For further information go to swim4life.org.


Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla photo archives reach 1 Million Views

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Exhibition opens at Frederick Studio Provincetown, September 4-8, 2024; reception, Friday, September 6, 6:00-8:00 pm.

The 37th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla, set for September 7, is pleased to announce its photo archive has reached one million views. To mark this occasion, Frederick Studio Provincetown will present: Splash – 1 Million Views, featuring selections from the Swim’s photo archive dating back to 1988. The exhibition will run from September 4-8, 2024, with the opening reception on Friday, September 6, 6:00-8:00 pm at 237 Commercial Street, Provincetown. If you are unable to join in person, a virtual exhibition will be online as of September 4th.

The opening will precede the annual Celebration of Life Concert across the street at the UU Meeting House at 8:00 pm. Both events are free and open to the public.

Mike Syers, Swim for Life photographer and curator of the exhibition, creates the visual story of this quintessential Provincetown tradition and fundraiser. Photographers include Syers, Jane Paradise, Mark Finnen, Jay Critchley, Igor Myakotin, Dan McKeon & others.

“We would like to thank James Frederick for presenting this historic Swim for Life photo exhibition,“ stated Jay Critchley, director of the Provincetown Community Compact, sponsor of the Swim.

The Swim for Life, which has raised $6M since 1988 for thirteen community non-profit organizations, includes a 1.2-mile Swim and a Half-Mile Swim along the shoreline of Provincetown Harbor, and a one-mile swim in Wellfleet’s Great Pond.

For information about shoreline Watch Parties and registration for the Swim for Life for swimmers, kayakers and volunteers, and greeting the swimmers at the finish line at the Mermaid Tea please go to: swim4life.org.

Joan Nagle selected for Volunteer Award at the 37th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla set for September 7, 2024

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Joan Nagle has been on a lifelong journey to bring aqua aerobics and swimming to the community, including teaching synchronized swimming in Sandwich, now called artistic swimming. She muses as we talk about her long life as a competitive swimmer, coach and teacher - spanning nine decades. Claiming to be shy as a 15 year old, she approached the swim coach at the YMCA in New Haven after not being selected for the team. Her tears earned her a spot!

Joan took to the water so quickly that she won the women’s national 200-yard breaststroke at age 15! The tears paid off! However, there were few places for women to pursue their athletic dreams in the 1940s, but luckily she was admitted to one of the only colleges with a women’s swim team, Purdue University.

Joan will receive the David Asher Volunteer Award at the 37th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla fundraiser at the post-Swim’s Mermaid Tea and awards ceremony on September 7 at 3:30 pm at the Johnson Street beach headquarters, under the big white tent. The event beneficiaries include thirteen non-profit community organizations, raising over $6M since 1988.

Joan married in 1960, had four children, all athletic - Patty, Jim, Lynia and Chris, with Patty competing in six ironman competitions. She settled back home in New Haven, teaching swimming at her childhood Y. And she introduced aqua robotics” to this traditional swim organization.

“I like to push people out of their comfort zone”, she quipped with a laugh.

Moving to Cape Cod after her children left the nest, Joan settled in Sandwich where she was aquatic director for ten years. She then moved onto Eastham where she worked for twenty-three seasons, slipping away winters to San Miguel, Mexico where she continued her teaching of aqua aerobics classes and worked with five year olds at a pre-school.

Sometime in the late 1990s Joan started summer aqua aerobic classes in Great Pond, Wellfleet that have become the nucleus of the Wellfleet Great Pond Mermaids fundraising team at the Swim for Life. Beginning in 2019, when the tail end of Hurricane Dorian canceled the Provincetown event, swimmers inaugurated their first official Swim in the quieter waters of Great Pond. This year’s Wellfleet Swim is September 7 and starts at 9:00 am for the 1-mile swim around the circumference of the pond.

For a list of our business sponsors and information about registration for swimming, volunteering, kayaking, Watch Parties and the Half-Mile Swim, and information about the Celebration of Life Concert, go to swim4life.org

Jay Critchley

Founder & Director, Provincetown Community Compact

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A second swim route, a Half Mile Swim, has been added to the 37th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla fundraiser set for Saturday, September 7, 2024

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The Provincetown Community Compact welcomes swimmers, kayakers, volunteers, boaters and the public to participate in Provincetown, Wellfleet and hometown locations.

For those who feel overly challenged by the 1.2-mile Swim for Life route along Provincetown’s East End shoreline, the Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla fundraiser has created a second route beginning at the Town Landing beach at Atkins Lane (521 Commercial Street) to the Johnson Street beach: The Half-Mile Swim. A Swim for Life will also take place at Great Pond in Wellfleet.

Now in its 37th year, this legendary Swim for Life is scheduled for Saturday, September 7, 2024, at 2:30 pm. Registration  is now open. All swimmers, kayakers and volunteers receive a 2024 Swim t-shirt designed by Tim Convery of Tim-Scapes, and an invite to the Mermaid Tea. Swimmers may also create a Swim Team.

“This shorter route will open up the event to younger participants and adults who want to test the waters for a less challenging swim,” stated Jay Critchley, director of the Provincetown Community Compact, Swim sponsor. “The Half-Mile Swim is another  opportunity to Take the Plunge!” he added. 

The public is invited to cheer the swimmers along the swim route and organize private Watch Parties. Official Swim Watch Parties will be at St. Mary of the Harbor and Mayo’s Cape Codder Guest House beach. Those unable to visit Provincetown may register to Swim in Place, wherever they may live.

Now in its 37th year, this anticipated event has a new headquarters at Johnson Street Beach on Provincetown Harbor where registration, the finish line and the Mermaid Tea will take place. For swimmer, kayaker and volunteer registration go to swim4life.org.

This post-Labor Day fundraiser, which has raised $6M+ for AIDS, women's health and the community since 1988, invites swimmers, volunteers, kayakers, boaters and the public to join this quintessential Provincetown tradition. The 2024 Swim design was created by Tim Convery of Tim-Scapes.

Compact Director and artist Jay Critchley added, “The Swim activates and honors the healing powers of the harbor and its bounty to the community. Let’s come together once again in a joyous celebration of the town that we all love and support.”

Beneficiaries of this year’s Swim for Life  include: AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod (ASGCC), Helping Our Women (HOW), Outer Cape Health Services, Provincetown Rescue Squad Association, Soup Kitchen in Provincetown (SKIP), Provincetown Schools, The Compact Community Fund, Accessible Provincetown, West End Racing Club, Cape Cod Children’s Place, Native Land Conservancy, Lily House and Summer of Sass.

Registration is available online and open until Swim day, September 7, at Johnson Street Beach, also the location of the finish line for the Half-Mile Swim and the 1.2-mile East End shoreline swim route that starts at  the beach at Snail Road. In line with the tide cycle, the events will start at 2:30 pm with transport to the Swim start provided by the Funk Bus. The famous Mermaid Tea will be catered by longtime event sponsor, Far Land Provisions, with music by Provincetown’s own, Zoe Lewis.

A freshwater Swim will be held at Great Pond in Wellfleet the morning of the harbor event and is limited to fifty swimmers. Swimmers across the country who are unable to join on the Cape are invited to swim virtually by Swimming In Place. During the 2020 pandemic, swimmers, bikers and paddlers participated and raised pledges in twenty-six states. 

Business sponsors of the event include: Lead sponsor, Seamen’s Bank, Fanizzi’s Restaurant, Far Land Provisions Boatslip Resort & Beach Club, Lobster Pot Restaurant, Land’s End Foundation, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Cape Air, Bay State Cruise, Funk Bus, Berta Walker Gallery, Art’s Dune Tours, WOMR 92.1, Coyote Kayaks, Cranberry Square Dermatology, The Palette Fund, Premier Real Estate, Provincetown Part-time Resident Taxpayers Association, M. A. Frazier Disposal, Masthead Resort and Cottages, Sal’s Place, Harbor Dental Associates, Gramercy Park Foundation, Shor Home, My Employee Manager, Linchris  and support from the Provincetown Tourism Fund.

The Provincetown Community Compact is a non-profit organization established in 1993 to nurture the Provincetown and Outer Cape community. Its mission is to enhance the well-being of  the community through projects that incorporate the arts, the environment and the economy. It has birthed eight non-profits such as the Provincetown International Film Festival, the Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, Provincetown Commons, Summer of Sass, Tim McCarthy Human Rights Champion Fund and Pilgrim Bark Park. The results position The Compact as an economic generator


Jay Critchley

Founder & Director

Provincetown Community Compact

The Provincetown Community Compact presents the 37th Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla fundraiser set for Saturday, September 7, 2024

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The Compact welcomes swimmers, kayakers, volunteers, boaters and the public to participate in Provincetown, Wellfleet and hometown locations.

Now in its 37th year, the legendary Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla, sponsored by the Provincetown Community Compact, is scheduled for Saturday, September 7, 2024 at Johnson Street Beach on Provincetown Harbor, and at Great Pond in Wellfleet. For information go to swim4life.org.

This post-Labor Day fundraiser, which has raised $6M+ for AIDS, women's health and the community since 1988, invites swimmers, volunteers, kayakers, boaters and the public to join this quintessential Provincetown tradition. The 2024 Swim design was created by Tim Convery of Tim-Scapes.

Compact Director and artist Jay Critchley states, “The Swim activates and honors the healing powers of the harbor and its bounty to the community. Let’s come together once again in a joyous celebration in the town that we all love and support.”

Beneficiaries of this year’s event include: AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod (ASGCC), Helping Our Women (HOW), Outer Cape Health Services, Provincetown Rescue Squad Association, Soup Kitchen in Provincetown (SKIP), Provincetown Schools, The Compact Community Fund, Accessible Provincetown, West End Racing Club, Cape Cod Children’s Place, Native Land Conservancy, Lily House and Summer of Sass.

Registration is available online and open until Swim day at Johnson Street Beach, also the location of the finish line for the 1.2-mile, East End shoreline swim route that starts at  the beach at Snail Road. In line with the tide cycle,  the event will start at 2:30 pm with transport to the Swim start provided by the Funk Bus. The famous Mermaid Brunch will be catered by longtime event sponsor, Far Land Provisions, with music by Provincetown’s own, Zoe Lewis.

A freshwater Swim will be held at Great Pond Swim in Wellfleet the morning of the harbor event and is limited to fifty swimmers. Swimmers across the country who are unable to join on the Cape are invited  to swim virtually by Swimming In Place. During the 2020 pandemic, swimmers, bikers and paddlers participated and raised pledges in twenty-six states. 

Business sponsors of the event include: Lead sponsor, Seamen’s Bank, Fanizzi’s Restaurant, Far Land Provisions Boatslip Resort & Beach Club, Lobster Pot Restaurant, Land’s End Foundation, Tito's Handmade Vodka, Cape Air, Bay State Cruise, Funk Bus, Berta Walker Gallery, Art’s Dune Tours, WOMR 92.1, Coyote Kayaks, Cranberry Square Dermatology, The Palette Fund, Premier Real Estate, Provincetown Part-time Resident Taxpayers Association, M. A. Frazier Disposal, Masthead Resort and Cottages, Sal’s Place, Harbor Dental Associates, Gramercy Park Foundation and Shor Home.

The Provincetown Community Compact https://thecompact.org/ is a non-profit organization established in 1993 to nurture the Provincetown and Outer Cape community. Its mission is to enhance the well-being of  the community through projects that incorporate the arts, the environment and the economy. It has birthed eight non-profits such as the Provincetown International Film Festival, the Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, Provincetown Commons, Summer of Sass, Tim McCarthy Human Rights Champion Fund and Pilgrim Bark Park. The results position The Compact as an economic generator.


Jay Critchley

Founder & Director

Provincetown Community Compact