FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS
How does this all work, anyway?
We're so glad you asked! The Swim A Mile / Move A Mile for Women with Cancer is a fun and fabulous annual event whose participants actively raise funds from their friends, family and colleagues for the wide range of FREE programs and services offered by the Women's Cancer Resource Center in Berkeley, CA.
Hosted by Mills College at Northeastern University, it's an all-ages pool party at a beautiful venue, with wonderful food, music and community. It's also a hybrid event: you can swim or move a mile at Mills, or choose your own adventure!
Participants register for a day and time during the event weekend; ask their friends, family members, teachers and dentists to make donations to the cause; and jump in the pool, hop on a bike, get jogging or otherwise moving!
The college is located at 5000 MacArthur Blvd in Oakland, CA. The pool is amazing!
Why is the event now in the spring? Primarily because of global climate change and the fires that now seem to be the norm in October.
What are the registration fees? How much money should I raise? The registration fee is $35. Each swimmer under the age of 18 is asked to raise a minimum of $100. Adult swimmers are expected to raise $250 each. Children who raise more than $250 and adults who raise more than $1,000 before event weekend will receive a prize at the pool!
Do you need volunteers at the event? Most definitely! The event is powered by hundreds of volunteers each year. Email [email protected] for more information or to sign up!
What do I do after I register? As part of the registration process, you'll also sign up to be a fundraiser. After that, you can personalize your page or come back to edit it later. Finally, share the link to your page with your community and ask for donations. If you have any questions at all, please reach out to [email protected].
Swim A Mile. We have room for 360 swimmers and water-walkers, two people swimming per lane or four water-walking.
Move A Mile. There are trails available on campus for walking, jogging and biking. At 11 am on Saturday or 1 pm on Sunday, join us for a guided walk. Or, come at a time of your own choosing and make your way on your own. Once you're done, bring your participant card to the pool deck to have your participation announced by our MC.
Choose Your Own Adventure. Choose a physical activity and move a mile however and wherever you like. Stop by on event weekend to enjoy lunch at the Mills campus and have your participation announced by our MC!
What are the COVID-19 protocols?
These apply to all on-site volunteers, participants and their guests.
- If you are not feeling well or know that you have recently been exposed to COVID-19, we expect you to stay home. If you aren't sure, please take a rapid test before coming.
- Vaccines and boosters are encouraged for anyone eligible to receive them.
- KN95 masks are strongly encouraged on the pool deck; required in the locker room and restrooms; and required for anyone working in the kitchen or serving food or beverages. We will have them available.
- Please observe physical distancing as able.
- The restrooms, indoor showers and locker rooms are open and should be used at your own discretion. There is one outdoor shower and we will have a popup tent dressing room outdoors. Outdoor lockers are available (bring your own lock).
- There will be two swimmers or four water-walkers only per lane. You will be splitting a lane, which means that once you pick half of the lane, you will stay in it.
- If the COVID-19 numbers rise significantly in Alameda County before the event, we may update our protocols as appropriate.
Where do I check in when I arrive at the event? Look for Swim A Mile / Move A Mile yard signs pointing the way to the check in area from the parking lot. Check-in for ALL participants -- swimmers, movers, and choose your own adventurers -- is at the top of the hill at the entrance of the pool.
What time should I arrive? Please plan on arriving at least half an hour before your assigned swim time.
I can't remember what time I signed up for. Your time is listed in your confirmation email. Search for "Confirming Your Registration for the 2024 Swim A Mile / Move A Mile for Women with Cancer." If you can't find it, check your spam or junk folders. If you still can't find it, email [email protected].
What should I bring? Bring your family and friends for enthusiasm and support. Bring in any checks that you haven't mailed in yet. Bring the basics: goggles, towel, bathing suit. You can bring paddles, buoys, fins, kickboards, and other aides -- just no floaties for kids. These kinds of swim aids are allowed, but are NOT PROVIDED by the pool. If you plan to walk in the pool, bring water shoes, as the floor of the pool is very rough.
What should I leave at home? Please do not bring alcoholic beverages or glass containers, or wear fragrances or other scented products. Service animals are welcome, but no pets, please.
Can I walk my mile in the pool? Yes! Bring water shoes, because the floor of the pool is very rough.
How warm is the pool? The pool is chlorinated and heated to 81°F.
How many laps in a mile? Most of the lanes in the pool are 25 yards long. One mile equals 36 laps (72 lengths). In the shorter lanes in the shallow end, it takes 45 laps or 90 lengths to complete one mile. We have volunteer lap counters, so you don't have to count while you're completing your mile.
Can a loved one count my laps? Yes! One side of the pool will be for our official lap counters; friends and family are welcome to sit on the opposite side of the pool and count laps for their swimmer.
I’m feeling out of shape. Do you have suggestions for how I can kick-start a routine? If you're just starting a workout routine or getting back into condition after time off, focus on workout variety instead of performance expectations. Get your body back in motion with interval- and cross-training. There is great advice HERE.
To focus specifically on swimming, click HERE for a beginner's guide by veteran Swim A Mile participant Janet Perlman, or HERE for more advanced workouts designed by Neil Virtue, the swim coach at Mills.
The Mills swim coaches will be offering a swim clinic at a date to be announced. Attendance is limited to 15.
I’m not a great swimmer. Can I still participate? Yes! This is a non-competitive, no-pressure event. You can actually swim less than a mile, or even walk your distance in the shallow end (bring water shoes, as the floor of the pool is rough). If you don't want to get in the pool, you can walk, bike or jog on campus, participate in a body-weight workout, or do something on your own. It's all about having fun and giving back to your local community.
How many participants share a lane? You should expect to share the lane with one other swimmer or three other water-walkers. Swimmers will split the lane.
How much did I raise in the last few years? You can look this up on the 2021 site HERE, the 2022 site HERE and the 2023 site HERE. We will also send you a list of your previous donors shortly after you register.
How do I edit my fundraising page? Find your page by going to the "Fundraisers" tab on the wcrc.org/swim home page and search for your name. Click into your page and scroll to the very bottom. In the right corner, click on "Is this your page?" to claim it. If you have already done that, click on "Edit" in the same place.
My personal page or team page won't save when I edit them, or I get error messages when I try to enter my validation code. Please clear your internet cache (here's how); try using Chrome if you aren't already. If the error persists, please contact [email protected] and provide the kind of computer and browser you are using, as well as a screen shot of the error message you received.
I can't find my fundraising page. This is likely because you didn't check the box to become a fundraiser. You can sign up HERE.
How do I fundraise? WCRC relies on this event to fund one-third of its annual budget. That means we rely on you to make your best efforts at fundraising! Our event committee has compiled a list of ideas for you to get started. Please reach out to [email protected] for support.
Do you have a sample email I could use? Yes. At the top right of the website page, click on the envelope icon. This will assist you in sending an email through your own email provider. This won't work with all providers. The provided text on your personal page mirrors the content of your email, so you can use that, too. Just be sure to include a link to your page as well as your own text shortcode, found at the top of your personal fundraising page.
How do teams work? Teams build community as members motivate and inspire one another and make things more fun. Team members participate together if each team member chooses the same time slot during the registration process; members can also participate at different times. Team fundraising achievements are measured, though the registration fee and the minimum fundraising expectation are both determined per person and are the responsibility of each team member.
How do people donate? They can donate online by credit card via your personal page, by sending a check with your name in the memo to WCRC, by texting your shortcode to 71777, or by giving you donations directly. In this last scenario, we ask you to send in, if possible, any personally collected donations prior to the event, or to turn in when you arrive at the pool. Mail to WCRC, 2908 Ellsworth St, Berkeley, CA 94705. Please do not send cash through the mail.
Where can I see a list of my donors this year? Click on the "Donors" tab under the slide show on your personal fundraising page.
Will my donors get receipts for tax purposes? WCRC will provide tax receipts to all credit card and check donors, and, if you provide your donor's name and contact information, to your cash donors as well. Receipts for credit card donations are provided immediately, but sometimes go to spam. Receipts for credit card donations will be sent in about a week.
Share Your Moves on Social Media! There are social share buttons at the top of any Swim page. Please tag us and use these hashtags: #swimamile #moveamile #wcrc
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Is this event part of Swim for America? No. Swim for America supports cancer research. The Swim A Mile / Move A Mile for Women with Cancer raises funds for the Women's Cancer Resource Center in Berkeley, CA.
Do you have questions we didn’t answer? Please email us at [email protected]. We will answer you directly and add the Q&A to this page.