MOWSA and BLS Staff

The Boston Light Swim has a lengthy history and has passed through the capable hands of several race directors down the ages, including legendary New England marathon swimmer Jim Doty, who revived the swim in 1976 after a three-decade hiatus. In 2008, Greg O'Connor and Elaine K. Howley took up stewardship of BLS, co-directing the annual 8-mile race across Boston Harbor. In 2012, Greg founded the Massachusetts Open Water Swimming Association as a non-profit organizaton to further expand our mission of encouraging marathon swimming in and around Massachusetts' waterways. In 2019, Greg retired from directing the BLS and in 2021, leadership of MOWSA shifted to Elaine, Alana Aubin, and Mina Elnaccash. We are pleased to be able to contribute our volunteer efforts to the lengthy tradition of open water swimming in New England.

BLS Organizing Committee

Without the dedicated efforts of this core team, the BLS wouldn’t be half the race it is!

Rick Born, Logistics Support, Volunteer Wrangler

A life-long, competitive pool swimmer, Rick discovered his love for open water relatively late in life, when, in their mid-forties, a couple of his high school swimming buddies convinced him to do a relay of the English Channel. Having barely survived this, he finally fell in with the right group of folks (many of whom are members of the BLS committee) who have taught him so much about ocean swimming. His most adventurous solo swim was the BLS in 2015; he also loves the annual ice swimming festival in Lake Memphremagog. For his day job, Rick studies the nature of the neural circuits underlying visual perception. He has a daughter just out of college, and he lives in Jamaica Plain with his wife and two very active dogs.

Rena Demeo, Food and Beverage Wrangler

Rena has lived most of her life in Boston with the exception of 10 years in the Pacific Northwest. She moved back home because she missed being so close to the ocean. Rena also missed the thrill of mountain biking and going down hill wicked fast, and found her way to the Nahant Knuckleheads. There she met the greatest group of people doing amazing swims. Rena is now an ice/winter swimmer. She also loves crewing for her friends and learns so much from all of their epic journeys. She hopes to follow in their wake some day and do her own epic swims. For now, she loves the ice. Both for swims or a lovely Old Fashioned.

Jessica Gerber, Boat Wrangler

Jess grew up on the Jersey Shore and has swam competitively both pool and ocean her entire life. She competed in her first Mile-Ocean Swim in 1984 when she was 11. Her well-meaning Dad rented “JAWS” the night before; though terrified, she had an amazing swim and was hooked! (Plus, Dad walked the beach in support.) In 1991 she moved to Boston to swim for Northeastern University and held the school record in the mile for quite some time. But it wasn’t until she met the Crusty Barnacles in 2019 that she saw the light and “found her people.” Her most recent swimming accomplishment, of many, was BLS 2022. She had so much fun that she joined the BLS Committee! In her spare time, she works on her house in Marshfield; she is a part-time acupuncturist, adjunct faculty teaching research to acupuncturists, and Director of Programs and Research Operations for an Alzheimer’s Disease program at MGH.

Kellie Latimer, Safety Director

Kellie learned how to swim in the chilly waters of Casco Bay, Maine. After 15 years competing in the pool and a brief detour into the world of triathlon, she discovered marathon swimming. Her most recent accomplishment was completing a Boston Light Swim Double in June of 2019.

Ricky Sweeney, Permitting and Site Coordination

Rick Sweeney is a life-long South Bostonian who is enjoying his current state of non-employment after spending over 38 years as an Information Technology professional. Rick is an outdoorsman who'll never refuse an offer to go on an adventure if it includes Irish Whiskey and/or beer. Rick enjoys open water swimming. He’s participated in the Boston Light Swim six times, and has participated in many marathon swims as a support kayaker.

Mike Lynch, BHYC Liaison

Mike was a 2018 relay finisher with son, Dan Lynch and daughter, Justine Lynch. “When we finished, we had seconds to spare!” he says. Mike swims from BHYC to K Street Beach daily from April to November, then in the Parkway Y pool where he’s swum since he was in diapers. He’s participated in many of the Jim Doty Memorial Mile swims. A Boston native, Mike’s been swimming out of Boston Harbor Yacht Club for years, since 1962 — “since before the MWRA fixed the waste outfall, so we spent our youth doing the breaststroke to keep the scum away!” A self-described slow swimmer and an average sailor, Mike is active at the Boston Harbor Yacht Club, which has had a longstanding relationship with the Boston Light Swim since Jim Doty revived the event back in the late ’60s.

Polly Madding, Marketing

Growing up in Florida, Polly was a pool swimmer until she moved to Oregon in 1996. She picked up swimming again in 2012 and decided to try open water in 2017. Her first marathon swim will be BLS in 2021. She’s also recently become a winter swimmer and enjoys the winter swim festival in Lake Memphremagog.