Miller completes ‘outrageous’ fundraising swim
Dawn broke on May 25, kicking off the day Jeff Miller had spent many months planning and preparing for.
2023-06-02 12:55:18 - VI News Staff
Miller, a longtime St. John resident, retired Virgin Islands National Park fisheries biologist, and lifelong swimmer, was set to swim from Virgin Gorda to St. John via the Sir Francis Drake Channel. Instead of beginning his journey at sunrise as he would have preferred, Miller and his support team watched and waited for the currents to move in a favorable direction, for the ideal moment for him to slip into the water, and begin his 16-plus-mile swim. Finally, at 10:03 a.m., it was go time.
“Unfortunately at 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., currents were forecast to be extremely strong against the direction we wanted to go,” said Miller. “We decided to wait to start the swim until 10, which allowed for a very leisurely start to the morning, but I knew it would push us up against finishing after dark. I’m OK with swimming after dark, but I’d really rather not if I didn’t have to. We didn’t really have a choice.”
Miller’s motivation for the swim? Supporting wounded soldiers and St. John residents battling cancer by bringing awareness and raising funds for Team River Runner and the St. John Cancer Fund.
“In 2015, I saw a number of the Team River Runner veterans finish the Beach to Beach Power Swim — one was a double amputee above the knee and another was blind swimming with a person to assist them — and I was just so struck with their determination,” Miller said of his motivation to raise money for the organization that brings wounded veterans to St. John for an opportunity to find health and healing. “There’s far too much cancer in my family and close circle of friends, and the things the St. John Cancer Fund does for people without hassle is absolutely amazing.”