Jeff Cashman Swims for ALS Research

Swimming has been a central ingredient of Jeff Cashman’s life from early on.  He was an outstanding age-group and high school swimmer and had a successful career swimming for the University of Illinois in the early 1980s.  That is how Jeff became acquainted with A Long Swim co-founder Doug McConnell, who had graduated from that program a few years earlier. 

Fast forward a few decades, and each of them had rededicated themselves to open water swimming. 

Jeff is planning to swim the 25-kilometer Border Buster race,  swimming between Canada and the USA in Lake Memphremagog and will be focusing on using that swim to raise money for ALS research.  This is Jeff's longest swim to date and is dedicated to Gary Godfrey, a friend and incredible ambassador for ALS. Read more below...

Jeff said, “Doug and I have known each other for many years, and I have been motivated to pursue open water swimming (Ultra Marathons) given Doug and the A Long Swim team’s great work.  It has truly been an inspiration and for a very personal cause.” 

Little did Jeff know that the “personal cause,” that is finding a cure for ALS, would become very personal to him, too. 

Jeff went on, “A former colleague of mine from Andersen Consulting (Accenture) Supply Chain Strategy is living with ALS. Gary Godfrey is his name, and he is also an inspiration given his personal battle and the positive attitude he demonstrates daily.”  I want to dedicate my swim to Gary Godfrey, swimming as a sponsored athlete on the “A Long Swim” platform.

Jeff and Gary worked together at Andersen Consulting (Accenture) in their Logistics Strategy Practice (LSP) based out of Atlanta Georgia in the late 90’s.  Jeff and Gary have kept in touch over the years creating partnerships to deliver supply chain solutions for customers.

Gary is excited for this, as indicated by a text that he and Jeff exchanged: 

“Jeff, it is great to hear from you! I am flattered and honored that you would think of me. Thanks for all you are doing to raise awareness and money for ALS!  ALS research is woefully underfunded; we only spend $150 million annually on ALS research, when I believe we need to be spending over $1BILLION. What you are doing helps us get to that level! Thank you.”

Gary is an incredible ambassador for ALS and his optimism is an incredible inspiration for all that know Gary!

Jeff is honored to dedicate his 2022 swims to Gary and #MakeTodayYourBestDay #EndALS. 


A Long Swim is honored to welcome Jeff Cashman and Gary Godfrey to the A Long Swim Team.  Every dollar that is raised is dedicated to collaborative ALS research, including money that is dedicated to Gary’s favorite hashtags themselves.   

#TheCureIsOutThere #MakeTodayYourBestDay #EndALS #ToDonateTextCUREALSto44321 #wareagle @aburnmbb