To see all of our 2022 Swammy Awards, click here.
Eleven-year-old Sawyer Hansen has been named the recipient of the 2022 Heart of a Champion Swammy Award for his efforts in raising over $50,000 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Hansen first began his fundraising efforts at the age of 5 back in 2017 as part of a school “cares” project. From that project, he became inspired to help kids suffering from diseases like cancer.
That year, Hansen performed the first “Sawyer Swims for St. Jude” hour at his local pool, completing 2,625 yards and raising $3,400. Since then, Hansen has completed the swim annually, keeping a running tally of all of his yards and his total amount of donations.
This year, Hansen completed his longest swim yet, totaling 5,030 yards while raising a record $11,050. That brought his six-year total to 23,530 yards with $50,664 raised.
| Year | Grade | Yardage | Money Raised |
| 2017 | Kindergarten | 2,625 yards | $3,400.00 |
| 2018 | 1st grade | 3,000 yards | $4,300.00 |
| 2019 | 2nd grade | 3,900 yards | $8,461.00 |
| 2020 | 3rd grade | 4,300 yards | $12,253.00 |
| 2021 | 4th grade | 4,675 yards | $11,200.00 |
| 2022 | 5th grade | 5,030 yards | $11,050.00 |
| Totals | 23,530 yards | $50,664.00 |
Hansen currently competes for Saint Petersburg Aquatics and had a strong year in competition as well. He finished the 2022 season as the top-ranked 11-year-old in the country in the 800 freestyle LCM (9:24.30) by nearly 20 seconds. He also ranked 2nd in the country among 11-year-olds in the 400 freestyle (4:37.41).
St. Jude is located in Memphis, Tennessee, with several affiliate hospitals located throughout the southern United States. The hospital typically serves approximately 8,000 patients each year, a majority of which are younger than 21 years old, and specializes in research for rare childhood diseases and cancers.
Congrats, Sawyer! I’m happy — but not surprised! — to see that you’re still going strong and making your mark helping others. You’re an inspiration! Cheering you on from afar!
Congratulations Sawyer! You are the embodiment of goodness in life and sports.
I hope others who read this article will donate to your 2023 swim at the end of this month. Fundraising.stjude.org. Sawyer swims for St. Jude
I used to pace him. No more, I can only cheer in awe from the deck these days. Sawyer, you are amazing.
What a fantastic kid with a huge heart!
It will be fun when he is able to get to the 6k mark and have a 100 average under a minute. Seems to be heading there quickly. Great work!
Also congrats on raising all that money!😁
Rock Star!
Wohooo sawyer! Proud of you buddy
Anyone got problem about yards here? Congrats Sawyer!
This morning during long course practice, one of the sets was 6 x 200 kick x 3:40. Sawyer would normally do 150’s. Bobby Finke challenged him to make 200’s on each one. Sawyer made the first one at 3:36 and proceeded to descent down to 3:06.00 on the last one. I guess if the Olympic Champion Challenges you, You Got to Do It.
January 28th 5,287.5 yards in one hour. I asked him after the swim, “when are you going to get 6,000 yards in one hour. Answer, as soon as I can do 60 x 100 x 1:00.”