To raise funds and awareness for the Monarch School, Blair Cannon is asking people to dive into their wallets as he dives into the Atlantic. Cannon is vice president of Bernstein Global Wealth Management in San Diego and on June 23, he will be competing in the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim — a 28.5-mile long feat circumventing the whole island of Manhattan. Last year, Cannon completed a 21-mile swim from Catalina to the coast of California, also in an effort to raise money for the Monarch School. He finished the swim in August with the fourth fastest time in the world and raised more than $100,000. This year’s longer course has Cannon stepping up and training even more aggressively, logging 25 to 30 miles a week at the pool and La Jolla Cove. Cannon will be one of 40 swimmers taking on the Hudson River and rest of New York City’s waterways, swimming an estimated eight hours in 65-degree water with no wetsuit. The notoriety of the Hudson River’s pollution has played a factor in Cannon’s preparation. “I have to go and get all my vaccinations updated, and then I’ll keep my mouth closed and not drink the water,” he said. Braving the river’s sludge, he hopes, will allow him to raise $150,000, 80 percent of which will benefit the school. The other 20 percent will go to Manhattan Island Marathon Swim’s official charity, Swim Free. Cannon was first introduced to the Monarch School in the fall of 2010 and was immediately impacted by the need to help San Diego’s growing homeless-youth population. The school is designed to help break the cycle of homelessness by giving kids a quality education. Cannon, who serves on the school’s board of directors, spoke to the students on March 30 about his upcoming challenge, where they asked him about the sea life he expects to encounter and the obstacles he thinks he’ll face. “As one kid put it, she hopes I don’t fail,” Cannon said. “We talked a lot about the fact that no matter what challenges we have in life we can’t give up. And if you embrace the attitude of never giving up you have the chance of reaching your full potential and realizing your dreams.” For more information about the school, visit www.monarchschool.org. To donate to Cannon’s race, visit www.nycswim.org.