On Saturday morning, at
the BCYF Curley
Community Center in South Boston, 50
swimmers and 35 paddlers took part in Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's Swim
and Paddle Board for Boston
Harbor, a one-mile,
chip-timed, professionally staffed, competitive swim followed by the Boston
Harbors first chip-timed Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) competition.
 |
| Competitors gather for a group photo |
"What a great way to spend a summer day" said Boston College Law
Professor Sharon Beckman, who was the largest fundraiser and won a round trip
ticket courtesy of event sponsor JetBlue Airways. "In the early 1980's I
trained for my English Channel crossing on
these beaches when they were filthy. Now I delight in the sparkling water and
clean sand."
Katie O'Dair of Watertown and Adam Homaki of Boston won the swim for
competitors without wet suits. Geoff Melton of Brookline
and Anna Sheridan of Lexington
won the swim for competitors with wetsuits. Mark Jacobson of Lexington
and Cathleen Franey of York,
Maine, won the Stand Up Paddle
Board race.
O'Dair and Franey won JetBlue tickets as well.
 |
| Paddle Boarders in action |
Competitors raised more than $5,000 to benefit Save the Harbor / Save the Bay
and the Massachusetts Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. Following the races,
participants celebrated on the beach with refreshing beer and burgers, courtesy
of event sponsors Harpoon Brewery and Tasty Burger.
"It was a pleasure to walk on the beach and see smiles on everyone's faces
and to hear people already planning for next year" said Noel LaPierre of
Surfrider. "We can't thank our sponsors, the competitors, and most
particularly Save the Harbor, Save the Bay, enough: mahalo nui loa!"
"Just a few years ago even a small summer rain would have forced us to
cancel this event due to pollution from storm water" said Save the Harbor
spokesman Bruce Berman. "Today we are proud to celebrate the fact that the
South Boston beaches are now safe for swimming
virtually every day, no matter what the weather."
 |
| The winners of the 2013 Swim and Paddle Board for Boston Harbor |
These free Better
Beaches programs are made possible with Leadership Grants from Harpoon Brewery,
JetBlue Airways, P&G Gillette, the Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable
Trust. Save the Harbor also appreciates
funding support from National Grid, Comcast Massachusetts, and Russo Marine.
We also
want to thank our program partners at BCYF Curley
Community Center, the
Department of Conservation & Recreation, the Massachusetts Chapter of the
Surfrider Foundation, YMCA of Greater Boston, Tasty Burger, and Mix 104.1 FM. Special thanks goes out to the 500 splashers
and supporters of this year’s Cupid Splash and the 70 swimmers and paddlers who
participated in the Swim & Paddle
for Boston Harbor. Together, they raised $38,000 to fund free event sand programs on our
public beaches this season.
If you want to learn a little more about water quality on the Boston Harbor
Region's public beaches, you can download a copy of Save the Harbor's 2013
Beaches Report Card at http://www.savetheharbor.org/beachesreportcard/2013reportcard.pdf
About Save the Harbor/Save
the Bay
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay
is a non-profit, public interest, environmental advocacy organization, whose
mission is to restore and protect Boston
Harbor, Massachusetts
Bay, and the marine environment and share them with the public for everyone to
enjoy.
About the Massachusetts Chapter of Surfrider
The Massachusetts Chapter of
the Surfrider Foundation was founded in 1996. They are an all-volunteer
chapter composed of local New England surfer/environmentalists dedicated to the
preservation of the New England coastal
environmental, elimination of pollution, and open access to our beaches.
