Cancer Survivors Paddle From Catalina To Newport Beach This Weekend

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — The Newport Aquatic Center's paddle team, We Are Ocean and Team OpenWater will head from Avalon to Newport Aquatic Center on Sunday for a 9-hour journey across the channel. They will participate in a small craft relay race that draws paddlers from across the globe in a weekend retreat with hikes, yoga sessions and an adventure panel.

"The teams of paddlers will include cancer fighters in active treatment or remission, first responders, active duty military or veterans," according to a We Are Ocean spokesperson.

The cross-channel race is a fundraiser that will raise money for cancer patients and survivors to support an adventure camp. They aim to raise $27,000 to fund a week-long water-based adventure camp for 18 participants aged 15 to 39. The camp is centered on Catalina Island and provides ocean-based transformational adventures for teens and young adults fighting cancer, according to the We Are Ocean website.

Jack Shimko, Founder and Program Director of the Newport Aquatic Center, has spent too much time on the sidelines since he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in August. He spoke on the relay and what it means to him.

"I'm doing the Puakea Designs Wild Buffalo Relay because I'm done letting cancer sideline me and I'm ready to get back out there. I'm a lifelong endurance athlete, ocean enthusiast and two-time cancer fighter. Originally diagnosed at 29 with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and after 13 years living cancer free, I was diagnosed in August of 2022 with chronic lymphocytic leukemia," Shimko said in a recent news release. "I just completed 12 more rounds of cancer treatment and am waiting to hear what the next steps of my treatment plan will be. I'm in medically uncharted waters – that's why this paddle feels so important to me. A way to show cancer I'm done sitting in the sidelines and I'm ready to get out there!"

Danny Nichols, the co-founder of OpenWater, discussed what the opportunity means for all who participate.

"All of us at OpenWater are so grateful for the opportunity to share this experience with the NAC and Team 'We are Ocean," Nichols said. "While every one of us is on a different journey, the Wild Buffalo channel crossing provides fellowship, a powerful intersection point for us to come together and to surrender to the healing powers of the ocean."

The Puakea Designs Wild Buffalo Relay Race is an annual race event organized by Puakea Designs and Kelly Schwartz, Race Director. The NAC / We Are Ocean team is led by Jack Marshall Shimko, Founder and Program Director of the Newport Aquatic Center (NAC) We Are Ocean cancer program. The race was launched in response to The Puakea Designs Wild Buffalo Relay naming NAC and We Are Ocean as the beneficiaries of their upcoming race. The We Are Ocean team is generously sponsored by the Newport Aquatic Center, Puakea Designs, Florence Marine X, The Kennedy / Marshall Company, The Schulein Family, Crown Ace Hardware, Kaenon and Athletic Greens.