Wyatt Deaton just kept swimming.
For 2 miles — raising $5,900 through his persistence.
“This makes me — it just makes me super proud,” said his mother, Michelle, a cancer survivor. “I know he’s doing it for me, so it just means the world.”
The 11-year-old was powering through laps as part of Swim Across America (SAA), the nationwide fundraising event for cancer research, clinical trials and patient programs.
He did it for his mom who has secretory breast carcinoma, a rare form of cancer.
“I just wanted to do my part to raise money for cancer (research), because my mom’s cancer is very rare, and this helps finding rare cancers and helping people, like my mom, who have it,” Wyatt said.
With SAA, participants set a goal to raise a certain amount of money and distance they’ll swim — ranging from a half-mile to up to 2 miles.
Events are held both on open water and in aquatic center pools.
Wyatt planned to swim 2 miles in the Gulf of Mexico on May 7, however, poor weather changed those plans — forcing the event to be moved to the North Shore Aquatic Complex in St. Petersburg.
Buoys were set up in the pool, creating a circular track for the swimmers.
Wyatt was the youngest swimmer to swim 2 miles.
He set a fundraising goal of $2,000, but so far he’s raised $5,900, and counting.
He was the top fundraiser for the Tampa Bay SAA event.
“As a coach, it’s my job to set big scary goals, sometimes, for kids,” said Wyatt’s coach Brian Ahern, of the Tampa Elite Aquatics Mantarays (TEAM).
“Raising that much money was a big scary goal; swimming that far was a big scary goal, too, but I told him, if he raised that much money, I’d swim the 2 miles with him.
“The fact that he raised more than double that is just incredible,” Ahern said.
Wyatt has been swimming since about age 5; he was in first grade when he found out about his mom’s cancer diagnosis.
“He was devastated, so he just read every book to learn more about it,” Michelle said. “I think that being able to do something as a child that makes a difference means a lot to him, and I can see him doing (SAA) for years and years to come.”
Wyatt is a straight-A, fifth-grader at Family of Christ Christian School in New Tampa.
He also competes with TEAM, which, as a team, has raised nearly $30,000 for SAA. The Tampa Bay event raised more than $136,000 for Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.
Perhaps surprisingly, Wyatt didn’t take to the water quickly.
“When he came in, he had to learn the competitive strokes,” Ahern said.
In this year’s SAA swim, Wyatt and his coach completed their pledge swim on a warm Saturday morning, with Wyatt alternating between freestyle stroke and his on-the-nose but favorite stroke: “Yep, that’s the breaststroke,” he said with a smile and nod to his mom.
This was Wyatt’s third SAA, and he has already set a lofty goal for next year’s event.
He wants to raise $10,000.
Swim Across America
Info: There are several swim events across the country and state throughout the year. There is an upcoming swim at Hunters Green Pool in New Tampa at a date yet to be announced.
To donate to Wyatt’s fundraising, visit SwimAcrossAmerica.org/goto/Wyatt.
To learn more about Swim Across America or to donate directly to the organization, visit SwimAcrossAmerica.org.
Published May 18, 2022
