A documentary about six Michigan women who swim the English Channel to support ALS research will air on television this week.
The Michigan State University-produced documentary, "Swimming Towards a Cure," will air Thursday night on the Big Ten Network.
The documentary follows the team of women as they swim the English Channel. They swim the 42 miles for University of Michigan professor Bob Schoeni, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2008.
Michigan State says the team's leader and event organizer, Amanda Mercer, is a former swimmer for the school. The university says she was diagnosed with breast cancer four months before the start of the swim.
ALS is short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.