Meet Our Swimmers

Why do we swim? To create memories - Daniela Abbott

By Brittney Roy, Events Intern

Daniela Abbott, 34, has lived in Rhode Island for many years with her husband Branden and their children Bianca and Myles. Although Daniela grew up swimming in Brazil, and she and her husband have many friends who’ve done the Swim, they’ve never quite found the right reason to dive in themselves. Until now.

A diagnosis of ALS last fall for Daniela’s mother, Marcia Hansen, enticed Marcia and Daniela’s father Jeffrey to move from Minnesota to Portsmouth, R.I. to be closer to Daniela and her family and their son John Victor (JV). Read the whole story on our Tides Blog.

Why do we swim? For the love of a sister - Joanne Sadlowski

By Cindy Sabato, Director of Communications

Joanne Burrows Sadlowski is coming home from Texas this summer for the Save The Bay Swim. She spends time here every summer, but this summer is special: she’s swimming for her sister-in-law, Alice Burrows.

After an unknown disease crept into her body years ago and began to steadily degrade her mobility, strength and peace of mind, Alice, 55, was finally diagnosed with a rare form of terminal cancer in December. With the support of friends and family members, she’s now undergoing rigorous chemotherapy that will last the rest of her life. Read the whole story on our Tides Blog.

Military and civilian alike, Team Navy takes on the 40th Save The Bay Swim

By Matthew Vieira, Social Media and Marketing Manager

Every year since 1970, swimmers from across the region, and world, gather in Newport to partake in Save The Bay’s iconic 1.7-mile swim to Jamestown. While some travel far, some are already home at the starting line. This team of swimmers are the Navy Newport Swim Team.

The Navy Newport Swim Team has been doing the Swim for seven years. The size of the team fluctuates from year to year, but generally consists of about 20 swimmers, with more joining every day, from both military and civilian backgrounds. Four of these swimmers are Navy Reservist Dave Polatty of Narragansett, Retired Chief Petty Officer Dan Force of Portsmouth, Diann Uustal of Jamestown and Lieutenant Aaron Lamay of Newport. 
Read the whole story on our Tides Blog.