Alcatraz Swim: Rebecca Alexander to Lead Swim With Usher Syndrome Athletes
The swim from Alcatraz is one of the more difficult open water races.
The water temperature, bay waves and riptides, not to mention the wildlife, present plenty of challenges.
How about competing with eight degrees of vision and no hearing?
Rebecca Alexander, a New York-based psychotherapist, author and endurance athlete, will be doing just that on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Alexander first participated in the swim from Alcatraz more than a decade ago. She has Usher syndrome, the most common genetic condition affecting both hearing and vision, and she returns this year with far less sight and no functional hearing once her cochlear implants come out for the swim.
Her sister, Lauren, will guide her through the Bay. She’ll be joined by nine other swimmers living with Usher syndrome, each paired with a support swimmer from Alcatraz to Aquatic Park Beach.
Because they’re all night-blind, they’ll arrive at Aquatic Park before sunrise wearing headlamps, then board boats for the 1.25-mile swim to shore. They will remove their hearing devices and swim with limited vision, each guided by a support swimmer.
Among them are Ethan and Gavin Morrobel, brothers who were training for the Paralympics before the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re swimming to raise funds for research at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard that, for the first time, is showing potential paths to a treatment that could stop hearing and vision loss from progressing.
“More than a decade ago, two of my four children were unexpectedly diagnosed with Usher syndrome in their late teens. My husband and I were told there was nothing we could do and that eventually they would both lose their sight and ability to hear. So we did what desperate parents might do. We decided to try to change that,” said Nancy Corderman, founder and president of the Usher Syndrome Society. “For the first time, we’re seeing real paths to a treatment. That’s why every dollar raised matters.”
Swimmers anywhere can also join through a virtual swim, completing 1.25 miles in their own pool or open water through Oct. 17.
For more information or to donate, visit https://www.ushersyndromesociety.org/donate/.