Cross-Sound swim is nothing to this cancer survivor

The waterside Black Duck Cafe was the ideal Westport location for a Wednesday night fundraiser to support a team that will compete in the St. Vincent's Medical Center Foundation's Swim Across the Sound, as the Saugatuck River served as a reminder of what lies ahead for those who will make the 15-mile swim from Port Jefferson on Long Island to Captain's Cove in Bridgeport on Aug. 7.

About 100 people gathered in the café to bid on auction items and listen to the band the 440s at the 2nd annual LLBH Private Wealth Management LLC fund-raising event. The event raised $4,200, more than four times last year's total. The money will be used to sponsor the LLBH Private Wealth Management team, comprising a boat, several crew members and six swimmers who will participate in the 23rd annual Swim Across the Sound. Each team is required to raise $7,500, which supports the foundation's cancer education, screening and prevention programs at low- or no-cost for the underinsured and uninsured.

The event "has transformed into something bigger than expected," said Courtney Grabarek, a client relationship manager at LLBH. Grabarek said all the auction items -- including Yankees tickets and high-end jewelry and handbags -- were donated, as was the use of the Black Duck. The band performed for no fee.

"Every single person I know, including myself, has been deeply touched by cancer," Grabarek said.

Bill Loftus, a principal at LLBH Private Wealth Management, serves as the emcee for Swim Across the Sound. "I'll be announcing swimmers as they come in (at Captain's Cove) and giving out awards. We recognize every single team," he said. Loftus got involved with the Swim three years ago after two friends and his mother-in-law were diagnosed with cancer.

One of those friends, Maura Marden, 53, of Westport, was unable to attend Wednesday's fund-raiser because she had undergone a long day of cancer treatment at Yale-New Haven Hospital. But Marden will be at the starting line Aug. 7.

"I'm not going to miss that swim come hell or high water," Marden vowed.

A breast cancer survivor who currently is being treated for acute myelogenous leukemia, Marden will swim as a member of Team Pride II. The team includes her three sons -- Bart, 19, Danny, 21, and David, 23, all of whom are competitive swimmers -- as well as Dr. Neal Fischbach, the oncologist who treated Marden during her breast cancer battle, and family friend Andy Davis. Marden's husband Bill Marden will be the team captain and coach from the boat.

"I laugh at my life sometimes. One day I can be horizontal in a hospital bed for six hours and the next morning I'm teaching my Swim Fit class at the [Westport Weston Family] Y and swimming for 45 minutes," said Marden, who has trained for Swim Across the Sound since February.

"I was out of the water for a year and-a-half," said Marden, referring to various medications and the equipment needed to deliver chemotherapy into her system. Now, she swims in a pool twice a week and practices in Long Island Sound at Burying Hill Beach in Westport and Jennings Beach in Fairfield three days a week.

"She's gone through a lot in the last couple of years and to be able to do the Swim Across the Sound is inspiring," said Marden's youngest son Bart, a Division I swimmer for the University of the Pacific.

Emily Fenn, of Bridgeport, who works for LLBH and participated in last year's Swim, said Marden's participation in the event demonstrates her resilient spirit.

"Anybody who does the event is phenomenal ... The fact that she is a survivor of what the fundraiser is about just shows that she has a passion for life," Fenn said. "Just the fact that she can get in the water is incredible."

"She's got a great spirit and heart," Loftus said.

"It gives you goose bumps thinking about it. It'll be especially moving to see her swimming with her three boys," said Matt Watson, 19, of Fairfield, who swims competitively for Johns Hopkins University and is a member of the LLBH team for Swim Across the Sound.