Young mom, cancer victim honored at Swim Across America event

LARCHMONT, N.Y. — Hundreds of swimmers hit the water in Westchester Saturday to raise money for cancer.

The annual Swim Across America Long Island Sound event, which ends at Larchmont Shore Club, raises millions of dollars for cancer research.

This year, one team raised money in memory of longtime event participant Gina Mannix Wente, who lost a sudden fight with cancer earlier this year.

“It’s very emotional. We’ve done a lot in support of Gina, and trying to remember her honor, this is more celebratory,” said her husband, Dave Wente.

Mannix Wente was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant with her second child.

“About 24 weeks into her pregnancy, she had some tenderness in her breast  – they thought it was mastitis,” Wente said.

But then came the diagnosis, and by then, the disease had spread. Mannix Wente delivered her son at 29 weeks. She died three weeks later.

Now their extended family is helping to raise their two children, and the community is rallying to help raise money for cancer research.

Most Swim Across America Long Island Sound participants swim from Larchmont Yacht Club to Larchmont Shore Club, covering a distance of a little over a mile. But some swimmers start all the way out in Glen Cove, Long Island, and swim more than six miles across the sound.

On Saturday, more than 500 swimmers were in the water, about 50 of them on Team Gina. But there was certainly no shortage of other stories.

“It’s special for every family. Every person who is swimming, is swimming for someone who is a survivor, or going through the battle, or someone who lost the battle — so it’s special for everyone,” said event director Jean Fufidio.

Fufidio says Team Gina has already raised more than $118,000 for cancer research — and counting.

That’s in addition to the $26 million the Larchmont event has raised over the last three decades.

It’s an event Mannix White took part in for at least ten years when she was younger. Swimming was always a big part of her life. She swam in college for Holy Cross and went on to coach at Ursuline.

But Saturday, it was her family who got in the water, in the hope of giving others fighting a cancer battle the precious gift of time.

“I certainly don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Dave Wente said.

“I just want everyone to you know, stay in tune with your body. Get your check-ups,” he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.