The UW-Whitewater mens and womens swim teams participated in the 18th annual Hour of Power Relay in honor of Carleton swimmer Ted Mullin who died of sarcoma in 2006. The event raises money for sarcoma cancer research. Sarcoma is a type of cancer that develops in the bones and soft tissues including things like fat, muscles, and deep tissue.
Throughout the event the phrase “leave it all in the pool” is used in tribute to Ted as he was always ready to go and locked in giving him the nickname “Intense Ted.” Warhawk swim and dive head coach Elise Knoche was a teammate of Mullins at Carleton.
“I met Ted when we were both freshmen. He was the one who made the biggest first impression on me when I got there,” said Knoche. “He was really passionate about our swim team at Carleton, and was such a great friend and teammate and just a really great guy.”
The event takes place every year on the second Tuesday of November. It also starts at the same time no matter what time zone you are in. For the Warhawks the event started at 4 p.m. The event takes place at the swim team’s home pool.
The Warhawks are one of many participating schools in the Hour of Power Relays including not only other colleges but high school and club swim teams as well. The event has come a long way since its first annual event which featured 15 teams at the time. Since then it has grown to 144 teams and still continues to grow every year. Throughout the years the event has been able to raise over $1 million for the Ted Mullin Fund for Pediatric Sarcoma Research at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital.
“Going into the event we talk about the importance of raising awareness for something like this,” said sophomore Dom Schlueter.“There are a lot of benefits of having an entire team come together with each other and raising money and awareness for this cause. There is a lot of teamwork that we do. As a team we have gotten so close that we are able to do an event like this.”
The event itself is a continuous hour relay with your choice of stroke. The object is to keep each lane at the same length. It is also important throughout the relay that each swimmer gives it their best all out effort “leaving it all in the pool.” But it is also important throughout the race to support your teammates and have enthusiasm the whole time. If you start to fall behind the other lanes you can switch to another lane to help your lane get caught back up.
“We as a team try to have fun. But also remember that this is a serious event and we need to take it seriously,” said sophomore swimmer Daniel Keller. “I like the feel of the team after we do this. It’s a good team building exercise doing a continuous relay because it’s not a competitive relay. We try to stay on the same length throughout the event. And it’s really just a nice team effort overall.”
Although this may not have been a competitive race, the “Hour of Power Relay” is a great event to honor an amazing person and raise money for a great cause. The Warhawks will return to competition Dec. 1 and 2 when both the men’s and women’s teams travel to Wheaton.
