Sierra Nevada Open Water 4 MS
- WHEN I SWIM -
"I am at One with Myself and at One with the World"
"Raising MS Awareness with every Lake I Swim"
"Raising MS Awareness with Every Lake I Swim"
Grant Lake CA - August 9, 2025
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On August 9, 2025 I will be back in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, where I will once again be swimming to Raise MS Awareness.
My inspiration for Sierra Nevada Open Water 4MS came to me in 2014 as I stood on the deck of June Mountain ski lodge over looking the majestic blue-green waters of June and Gull Lakes.
In 2021, I swam both of these lakes. This August 2025, I will be swimming the length of Grant Lake a distance of 2.9 miles, with family & friends supporting me and swimming along side me.
Please, support my foundation Sierra Nevada Open Water 4MS in my swim of Grant Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. - Benefitting Keck Medicine of USC - Multiple Sclerosis Care Clinic and all of us living with MS.
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The donations raised this year swimming the length of Grant Lake will directly support and fund the Second Annual MS patient/caregiver forum envisioned by Dr. Lilyana Amezcua - Head of the Multiple Sclerosis comprehensive care and research center at Keck Medicine of USC.
This is an educational forum for MS patients and their loved covering the latest updates and advances in MS research and patient care. The forum will be held at the USC Keck
School of Medicine’s Health Sciences Campus. The forum will also be accessible
on a live Zoom feed, and include an opportunity for patients and caregivers to ask
questions of the panel of experts, comprised of USC’s MS Dr's, MS specialists, in
addition to myself and the members of the multidisciplinary team such as physical
therapy, occupational therapy and social work.
Donations in Honor of Richard "Dix" Gardner
Thank you in advance for your support. It means the world to me!
"Raising MS Awareness with Every Lake I Swim"
Richard (Dix) Gardner
dix@wheniswim.com
For me, swimming is freedom. It is the one place where the physical and mental challenges of living with multiple sclerosis no longer define me. While MS has changed many aspects of my life, it has never taken away my ability to enter the water and discover who I truly am.
In the water, I am not defined by my disease or my limitations. I stand as an equal—alongside anyone, regardless of physical ability. Swimming has become my sanctuary, my equalizer, and the place where I feel whole.
Swimming is no longer just something I do. It is who I have become. It is my identity, my vocation, and my purpose. It is the force that drives me to raise awareness, inspire others living with multiple sclerosis, and demonstrate that while MS may change the course of a life, it does not have to define its possibilities.
Mission:
My mission is to inspire hope and raise awareness of multiple sclerosis by undertaking high-elevation open-water endurance swims throughout the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Each lake I cross represents more than a distance—it represents resilience over adversity, possibility over limitation, and the belief that our greatest challenges can become our greatest purpose life purpose, while inspiring others of all abilities.
Sierra Nevada Open Water 4MS
More than 2.3 million people worldwide are living with multiple sclerosis, a chronic and unpredictable disease of the central nervous system. For many, MS can lead to physical disability, cognitive challenges, loss of employment, and increasing isolation from the activities and people we love. Sierra Nevada Open Water 4MS is committed and unwavering: to raise awareness, support research aimed at finding a cure, and fund programs that improve the quality of life for those living with MS, such as myself. Every lake I/we swim represents another opportunity to bring about MS awareness and inspiring action in the hope of one day finding a cure for MS.
More than 2.3 million people worldwide are living with multiple sclerosis, a chronic and Moving forward...
Moving forward, I invite you to become part of this journey. Whether you choose to support my efforts, make a donation, volunteer, or even join me in the water by swimming or paddling alongside me, you become part of something much bigger than a single swim. Together, we can raise awareness of multiple sclerosis, provide hope to those living with MS, and help fund the research that will one day lead to a cure.
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Let's make it happen.
— Dix