USH X Swim Alcatraz 2026 fundraiser • October 17, 2026
Rebecca Alexander
Meet Rebecca Alexander, who will swim from alcatraz to shore on October 17, 2026 for our USH x Swim Alcatraz fundraiser. All proceeds from this event go directly towards research for all types of Usher syndrome.
My name is Rebecca Alexander, and on October 17, I’ll be swimming from Alcatraz to the San Francisco shore again!
I completed this swim more than a decade ago, when I had considerably more vision. This time, I’ll be jumping into the water with only a few degrees of vision and without my cochlear implants. I’ll be swimming completely deaf.
I should probably mention that I hate being cold. So yes, swimming across the San Francisco Bay is an interesting choice. The water is freezing, the currents are unpredictable, and very little about this swim is within my control. The same can be said of living with Usher syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes progressive deafness and blindness.
Living with Usher syndrome means learning to adapt again and again. It has meant grieving what I’ve lost, finding new ways of doing things, and asking for help when I would rather do everything on my own. It has also taught me that asking for help is not a weakness. It is one of the ways we connect with and show up for one another.
That is what makes this swim so meaningful. I’ll be joined by 9 other deafblind swimmers and 12 swim guides who will help us navigate the water. My sister, Lauren, better known as Pookie, will be swimming beside me. Returning to this challenge with a community around me feels incredibly powerful.
I’m an author, psychotherapist, speaker, disability advocate, and Board Director of the Usher Syndrome Society. Much of my work is about helping people face the parts of life they didn’t choose and decide how they want to live in response. This time, I’m getting back in the water.
I’m not doing this to prove that I’m fearless or that anything is possible if we just try hard enough. I’m doing it because taking on challenges like this helps me focus on everything I have and all that I can still do, rather than only on what I’ve lost.
This swim is for everyone living with Usher syndrome and everyone adapting to a life they did not choose. More than a decade later, I’m returning to the Bay with less sight, no sound, and a deeper understanding that strength is not only about what we can do alone.
Here goes!!
Every donation directly advances critical research initiatives aimed at finding treatments and a cure.