Two brothers who grew up swimming for Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School dove into the frigid waters off Alcatraz Island last month and swam all the way to San Francisco, despite a rare genetic condition that is slowly taking away their sight and hearing. Ethan and Gavin Morrobel completed the crossing as part of a fundraiser built around their own diagnosis, turning a notorious prison escape route into a statement about what they believe anyone can do.
The swim, known as USH X Swim Alcatraz, took place on October 17 and ran from Alcatraz Island to the shore of Aquatic Park in San Francisco Bay, according to the Usher Syndrome Society. The organization reported that 22 people took part altogether — 10 individuals living with Usher syndrome, paired with 12 support swimmers who guided them through the choppy bay. As reported by TAPinto, Ethan and Gavin are both Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School swim team alumni and former Scotch Plains residents who now serve as national ambassadors for the Usher Syndrome Society.
Usher syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that progressively affects hearing and vision, and the brothers were diagnosed with Usher syndrome type 1B back in 2009, according to the Society's fundraiser page for the pair. Despite that diagnosis, Ethan and Gavin went on to rank among the country's top paraswimmers, winning national para-swimming championships and earning All-American para-swimmer honors in 2019, the same page notes.
Training Around Darkness and Choppy Water
The brothers trained for the open-water crossing two to three times a week, using routines similar to those they relied on during their competitive swimming days at the Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA, per the TAPinto report. Gavin described working training sessions into whatever hours worked around his schedule, saying, “If not in the morning, then it would be late at night.”
Open water posed different challenges than a pool ever did. Ethan identified choppy water without lane lines as one of the toughest adjustments, while Gavin said he would switch from freestyle to breaststroke when he got tired during the swim. For low-light conditions, Gavin has leaned on a strategy of asking friends for help and using a flashlight, according to TAPinto's account.
A Swim Held in Honor of an Advocate Who's Done It Before
The crossing was held in honor of Rebecca Alexander, an author, disability rights advocate, extreme athlete, and Usher Syndrome Society board member who is herself living with Usher syndrome, the Society said. Alexander had completed an Alcatraz crossing more than a decade earlier and returned to the island for this year's swim with further vision and hearing loss since that first attempt, according to the organization.
For swimmers and supporters who couldn't make it to San Francisco, the event also offered a way to take part from anywhere. Swimming World reported that the event included a remote option, letting participants log 1.25 miles in their own pool or open water through October 17 as a parallel way to join in.
Family Pride and a Fox-Inspired Motto
Ethan called the collective accomplishment of the Usher syndrome swimmers “amazing,” per TAPinto's reporting. He's leaned on filmmaker Casey Neistat's motto to “do what you can't” as he's navigated his own path — a path that shifted when vision and hearing loss made his original dream of becoming a pilot unfeasible, pushing him instead toward aerospace engineering. Ethan is now pursuing a mechanical engineering graduate degree with a focus on aerospace at the Rochester Institute of Technology, while Gavin is working toward a combined bachelor's and master's degree in finance.
Gavin has said he draws inspiration from Terry Fox, the Canadian runner who had his right leg amputated because of cancer and went on to complete a cross-Canada fundraising run in 1980. Both brothers have said they believe having a disability does not prevent a person from living what they call an awesome life, and they've invited the public to support swimmers and learn more about their journeys through their fundraising page.
Beyond the awareness their swim generated, the event itself was structured as a fundraiser: the Usher Syndrome Society said donations made through swimmers' individual pages go toward research for all types of Usher syndrome. An EIN Presswire release dated October 13 noted that Ethan and Gavin were among the ten swimmers living with Usher syndrome who had been training for the open-water crossing with their swim guides ahead of the October 17 event.
