Relay Team: JJJA Love

TEAM NAME: JJJA Love

MEMBERS: Jess Gerber, Jen Gaughan, Jen Nissley, Ashley Gagnon

HOMETOWN: We all met in Hull, MA at Crusty Barnacles

BLS EXPERIENCE: Jess, Jen G and Ashley all did solos and this is Jen N’s first BLS experience!

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? Tim White is our pilot; he was Ashley's solo pilot

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING? We all do pool training and Hull

SWIMMING FUN FACT: We all met swimming with the Crusty Barnacles! We found our people!

ANYTHING ELSE? We're just excited for a day on the water with friends!

Relay Team: Whitin High Milers

TEAM NAME: Whitin High Milers

MEMBERS:

  • Elizabeth Bacon

  • Cathy Hayes

  • Paul Smith

  • Larry Specter

HOMETOWNS: Sutton, Whitinsville, Grafton, MA

BLS EXPERIENCE: Elizabeth soloed in the BLS last year and wanted to come back and complete the swim!

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? Pilot- Sean Duddy Crew- Ned Bacon

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING? Lake Singletary and various ocean beaches in MA

Relay Team: Ritchie

TEAM NAME: Ritchie

MEMBERS & HOMETOWNS:

  • Angela Ritchie - Boston, MA

  • Abigail Maguire - North Kingstown, RI

BLS EXPERIENCE: Rookies

WHY BLS?

  • Angela: I had done a couple of open water swims prior and wanted to do something fun with my college teammates from the area

  • Abigail: I haven't done the BLS yet but I have really been wanting to do it! My friend Angela really wanted to do it and she told me about it! I am so excited to do this swim!

WHY BLS?

  • Angela: I had done a couple of open water swims prior and wanted to do something fun with my college teammates from the area

  • Abigail: I haven't done the BLS yet but I have really been wanting to do it! My friend Angela really wanted to do it and she told me about it! I am so excited to do this swim!

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? Pilot: Chris Ritchie Crew: Rachel McCoy

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING?

  • Angela: Northeastern and in the harbor

  • Abigail: James Madison University during the year, Brown University during the summer

SWIMMING FUN FACT:

  • Angela: I am currently going into my senior year of college at James Madison University and i am also on the swim and dive team where I am a captain.

  • Abigail: One of my first open water swims was in Vermont when I was seven and I kept going off course towards Canada and could see Canada when I was doing it. I promise I'm better at spotting in the ocean now!

ANYTHING ELSE?

  • Angela: Excited!! First big open water swim

Abigail

Kim Garbarino

NAME: Kim Garbarino

HOMETOWN: Winthrop, MA

BLS EXPERIENCE: BLS experience - about 16 years since my first one in 2008

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? Pilot Bob Gaff and Amy my wife, Pete McCloud

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING? Devereaux Beach in Marblehead

SWIMMING FUN FACT: I’ve done a lot of individual sports and the nicest people are swimmers!

Elaine K. Howley

NAME: Elaine K. Howley

HOMETOWN: Waltham, MA

BLS EXPERIENCE: I successfully completed solo swims in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2009, I became assistant director of the race, supporting Greg O’Connor in his role as lead director until 2014. (Race directors shouldn’t swim their own event!) From 2015 to 2020, I served as lead director of the race. In 2020, we expanded the leadership team, and I’m still involved with some of the planning and execution of BLS, but now focus most of my volunteer efforts on overseeing MOWSA functions and organizing and observing MOWSA solo swims. In 2010, Greg and I completed a tandem solo Boston Light Double, reviving the swim after 41 years and setting a new course record. In 2022, Kim Garbarino and I completed the first known Boston Light Triple crossing as a tandem, also setting the course record. I am thrilled to be back in the BLS race line-up this year! 

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? Capt. Mark Sarofeen and Sheryl Bierden

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING? I do most of my pool training at Wayland Community Pool in Wayland, MA (with some additional swimming at Regis College in the winter). I also swim regularly with the Pam’s Pond crew in Lake Cochituate; at the Curley Community Center, M Street Beach, and Pleasure Bay in South Boston; at Nahant Beach; and occasionally in Hull at Nantasket Beach or from Ted’s house.

SWIMMING FUN FACT: I will board a plane a few hours after swimming Boston Light this year to fly to the UK to support three English Channel aspirants and a solo swimmer hoping to cross the North Channel. All four swimmers are BLS veterans!

Saulo Rozendo

NAME: Saulo Rozendo

HOMETOWN: Sao Paulo, Brazil

BLS EXPERIENCE and WHY BLS? In 2022 I was asked to be a BLS crew member and was introduced to this fantastic group of people who are passionate about the sport and this event in particular. I admired their journeys, their epic goals: crowns, monsters, long distances, and ice-cold waters. A community that is connected like bodies to a buoy. So in 2023 I was fortunate to be picked as BLS volunteer, and it was a fantastic experience. Not only from the perspective of swimmers and their crew, but also their friends and families, and the staff handling all the logistics of this complex event. I was now part of this community expressing care and enthusiasm for two dozen athletes as they swim thru all conditions to come home. Little did I know that in 2024 it was going to be my turn.

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? My crew includes open water expert and Collins Cove extraordinaire AMY CRAIGEN, with her positive energy and enthusiasm so important in this event; along with ice swimming prodigy JB LANZA, who successfully completed BLS in 2022 and has been such a good friend swimming together over the years; and emergency-doctor-turned-long-distance-triathlete ERIC GORALNICK, who brings the Navy core values into everything he does. Amy, JB and Eric and their own journeys will inspire me when the water gets calm and cold. I could not have asked for a better pilot. JOE DEITSCH brings his awesome new boat to the course, and he is excited to navigate those waters like a champ.

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING? Early in the season I went to Crystal Lake in Newton and Walden Pond in Concord. Then moved to Pleasure Bay and L Street, the latter with the added benefit of a steam room. JCC pool and Harvard Blodgett pool for those necessary swim drills and video recording sets.

SWIMMING FUN FACT: I was 11 years old, summer vacation at the beach with the family, and I drifted from the shore after many hours playing with the waves and floating. A man on a fishing kayak stopped by and asked my name. I told him I would swim back. A long 45 minutes later, I reached the shore and everyone was crazy nervous that I had gone too far. I told them a fisherman reached out. However, no one had seen or talked to any fisherman. My mother believed it was the divine. My relatives said it was stress. We never went back to that beach.

ANYTHING ELSE? I love this community. People with distinct backgrounds and daily lives, so many interesting stories and exciting and powerful reasons to swim. What a joy to be around every one of you. Swimming is an individual sport, but the most enjoyable part is the friendship. And choppy waters, they are enjoyable too.

John Batchelder

NAME: John Batchelder

HOMETOWN: Centennial, CO

WHY BLS? I just wanted a little training swim and an excuse to travel to Boston

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? Paul Konarski, Jr - pilot; Eddie Konarski - crew

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING? Various miscellaneous places in Colorado.

SWIMMING FUN FACT: Triple Crown Butterfly!

Jeannie Zappe

NAME: Jeannie Zappe

HOMETOWN: Mechanicsburg, PA

BLS EXPERIENCE: Rookie

WHY BLS? I have never done BLS, but it's been on my bucket list for some time. Why? It's iconic -- the first open water swim in America! Many friends recommended, and I thought it would be a beautiful swim.

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? My crew is Deb Henson, who has crewed for me on all of my Triple Crown swims. She's the best there is. Drew Boujoulian is my pilot.

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING? I largely train in a pool, but have some open water training coming up in Hammonassett, CT, and doing cold water training in tub and cold open water.

SWIMMING FUN FACT: I completed the Triple Crown in 2022 at age 56. I did some training in Boston prior to the English Channel and was very grateful for the stormy, nasty, rainy, cold day I trained at Plum Island (with Greg O'Connor and Martha Wood!)... it prepared me well for the Channel!

ANYTHING ELSE? I'm very excited to participate in this historical swim and grateful for the opportunity!

Colin Kunze

NAME: Colin Kunze

HOMETOWN: New York City

BLS EXPERIENCE: Rookie

WHY BLS? First time BLS-er, excited to build up marathon swims. For most of my life I have been a long-distance pool swimmer who has for many years wanted to build up to the Triple Crown of open water swimming.

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? My pilot will be Stu Vaeth, and crewing for me, I will be having my triathlon coach, Anastasia Kaloyanides, on board.

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING? My open water swimming training is primarily at a Boston local favorite- Pleasure Bay!

SWIMMING FUN FACT: I love to take a dip wherever I go, from comfortable thermal pools in Ecuador, to glacial lakes in Montana, to freediving down to "Il Cristo degli Abissi" in Italy.

Sonia I Millan

NAME: Sonia I Millan

HOMETOWN: Born/Raised in Boston. Live in Ormond Beach, FL

BLS EXPERIENCE: Rookie - volunteered in 2023

WHY BLS? Would love to complete this race in my home harbor.

WHO IS YOUR PILOT AND CREW? Crew- Aaron M Kent; Pilot- Jim Clinton

WHERE ARE YOU SWIMMING FOR YOUR BLS TRAINING? In a place that's too hot for training!