About
The 10K Swim for Mental Health was founded by members of the South Bay Masters Swim community in 2020 after a friend and fellow ocean swimming mate's son passed away unexpectedly during the pandemic, at 14 years old.
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A few ocean swimmers were already training for a 10K to keep their minds and bodies focused during the pandemic, and decided to turn it into something to help raise awareness for mental health issues and to bring the community together to show support. They also decided to open the event up with an option to swim a shorter distance and to participate on a kayak or paddleboard.
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After an unofficial event in 2020, we brought it back officially every year since to help raise awareness around mental health and raise funds for the South Bay Youth Project, which provides short-term counseling and other supportive social services to at-risk or underserved children, adolescents, and families in local schools and other community-based organizations.
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This is a 100% volunteer run event.
Some of the participants kicking off the 2023 event
History of the Impact
2024
Lisa Daggett-Cummings
Director of Development, South Bay Children's Health Center
The funds helped supplement counseling sessions through the South Bay Youth Project in Redondo Beach. As demand for services slightly exceeded available resources, support from the swim made it possible to ensure that every young person who needed help received it. We are deeply grateful for the hard work you put into this event and for the swimming community’s compassionate commitment to our cause.
Below are quotes from some of the students who received counseling through the South Bay Youth Project this year: (These quotes came through Luisa, who is one of the therapists who always helps at the swim!!)
“It is so great that my generation can talk about their mental health and actually have services in their school. This is such a good thing. I feel safe knowing I have someone I can talk to that cares and helps me.”
“I know this year I will be okay because I have my school-based therapist.”
“I was struggling with feeling sad and felt unmotivated all the time, but I knew my family did not have the resources to pay for therapy. I did not want my mom to worry about another bill, or me. Knowing my school offered free therapy has been super helpful.”
“Thank you, you have helped me so much. I never thought I would get past all my struggles, and now I look forward to life and what is to come.”
“I really needed help, but my family did not have the means. School-based therapy helped me understand myself better and make changes that are good for me, and helped improve my relationships with others.”
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2023
Lisa Daggett-Cummings
Director of Development, South Bay Children's Health Center
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There is no greater gift than the passion and commitment of individuals united for a common purpose. Last year’s 10K Swim for Mental Health, once again, demonstrated the dedication of this incredible group of swimmers, paddlers, kayakers, and community volunteers, to the mental health and wellness of local kids.
The event raised an unprecedented $6,248 last year, which was immediately reinvested in the South Bay Youth Project, South Bay Children’s Health Center’s school and community-linked counseling program. Funds raised were split between allowing us to bring on a second therapist for a portion of the school year at Hermosa Valley School in Hermosa Beach, and extending our counseling hours at allcove Beach Cities, a collaboration offering essential counseling sessions to South Bay youth in need, facilitated by SBCHC contracted, licensed therapists.
The demand for youth-focused mental health services in the South Bay exceeds the community’s current capacity. Thanks to the funding from the 2023 10K Swim, we can expand therapy hours for local youth in need. We are forever grateful to this very special group of dedicated individuals working (and swimming) together to make a tremendous impact!
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2022
Lisa Daggett-Cummings
Director of Development, South Bay Children's Health Center
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We used the funds from the swim in 2022 to help fund a therapist at Hermosa Valley school in Hermosa Beach. The swim is such an important event as it not only raises funding to help support the South Bay Youth Project, but each of you helps bring awareness to the critical need for mental health support in the South Bay.
Across the board, our therapists are seeing more intense needs since before the Covid pandemic and the need was growing then. Issues of suicide are also up and the work that goes on in the schools includes direct counseling and connection to resources, but also critically important psychoeducation for teachers and administrators.
Funds raised this year will support similar programming as the need for school-based counseling outweighs available funding and we work so hard to ensure that the schools have the resources these kids need. We couldn't do this without the type of support your amazing team offers us.
2021
Angela Wilson, LMFT
Director of Mental Health, South Bay Children's Health Center
Funds raised by the 10K Swim for Mental Health event helps our agency’s licensed therapists be able to fill in gaps of mental health services in our schools and community to better meet the needs of our youth and their families. In previous years, we’ve used the funding to provide much needed Suicide Prevention training to local school district staff at elementary, middle and high school levels.
Last year we are using the funding to provide extra days of school-based mental health support to students and families of a local middle school following the recent loss of a 7th grade student to suicide. Unfortunately, several schools we work with are dealing with similar losses which is why doing more to support mental health is so vital. We encourage your participation in our event as the more funding we can get, the larger our reach can be and the more lives we can impact.
An Interview with Event Co-Chair
Becky N. Rodgers
Master's Team Swimmer
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Why swimming?
I can't think of another activity that I enjoy more than swimming. I started swimming on competitive club teams at a young age, throughout part of high school and then on the UCLA Masters team in college. Growing up on the east coast, I was not really exposed to open water swimming, and never really had an appetite for it. When the pandemic hit, I had previously been swimming on Masters teams and was pretty devastated to not have work outs and camaraderie of teammates. Friends on the team encouraged me to try open water, which I initially resisted for months. Finally I was convinced to join in and essentially fell in love. Since 2020, I have been essentially only open water swimming with various groups year round from South Bay to Orange county. I feel that the ocean and our community keeps us balanced and very humble, dealing with different conditions every day.
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Why is this event important?
During the pandemic, we all struggled with various aspects of our life. We saw this especially hitting our local teenagers significantly, disrupting their lives and emotional growth. We feel that the ocean has an unspoken healing power, that when trained appropriately in ocean safety, can be unbelievably empowering. So what better way to host an event that benefits a local organization for youth mental health.
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An Interview with Event Co-Founder
Sasha Speer
Master's Team Swimmer
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Why swimming?
Swimming has been an important part of my mental and emotional well being for most of my life. I competed for years and have been a Master's swimmer since college, traveling the country with the sport. In 2019 I started swimming beyond the pool, joining a few Master's swimmers who were former lifeguards in the ocean. They had to beg me as I wanted nothing to do with the cold water - and now you can't get me out of the ocean year round! It has provided another level of peace, joy and community in my life - especially through the pandemic. I have had the opportunity to swim with teenagers and adults who all share a common love of sport and nature. We push each other to work through our fears and get stronger - and are better all-around for it.
Why is this event important?
One thing I feel like swimming is missing is a team effort toward a common goal, as the events themselves are personal (except for relays) and often teammates compete against one another. I wanted to create something fun and team building with teenagers and adults that included others who love the ocean and have found solace in it through kayaking and paddleboarding. The closest thing I can relate this to is how I felt doing a long distance cycling ride with a team where the end result wasn't a time, but rather to raise awareness for a cause, have a good time, and support each other. Doing this together as a team is what helps make this special and is what helps make it OK to talk about what someone is going through themselves or with a family member. It opens the door for support.
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Sasha (with fins, center), with her "pod" following the 2020 swim