All For One, One For All In The Stormy Tampa Bay Frogman Swim

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On January 18th, English Channel swimmer and Navy SEAL Captain John Doolittle swam with his daughter Megan, sons Ryan and Sean, and wife Katie in the 17th annual Tampa Bay Frogman Swim in support of the Navy SEAL Foundation.

He explained his mission, “To support our Gold Star families – even when the event was held under tropical storm weather conditions, and everyone was cold, wet, and profoundly humbled.

We kicked off Friday golfing with 31 Gold Star families, along with Admiral Eric Olson and Rear Admiral Jeromy Williams sharing words of gratitude and wisdom. From there, we held a celebration of lives well-lived and toasted the GS families and the Platoon Wave swimmers, a group who swims in full kit, dragging rucks and weapons along the course. They are either the toughest guys in the room or the ones who missed the memo on how physics works.”

Note: in “full kit” means that the swimmers wear their complete combat uniform, helmet, and body armor, carrying essential gear like their weapon, ammunition, water, food, first-aid, communication devices, and survival tools.

A Small Craft Advisory was issued for the Sunday event with 45 mph wind gusts. But Doolittle described everyone’s resiliency, “After last year’s cancellation, we weren’t about to let Mother Nature win again. We activated the contingency plan, moved the course to the St. Pete side, and spent the night re-rigging the entire event.

On Sunday morning, Admiral Mitch Bradley gave a speech that reminded everyone why we were there. We read the names of 185 of our fallen. Hearing those names with 75 of their family members standing right there, that’s the why. We swam an abbreviated course in protected waters just before the storm hit. High winds and rain did not stop the after-party at the American Legion. There were awards, speeches, and at least two heavy toasts: to the fallen, to those still in the fight, to the families, and to America.

The donation link is open for 30 days after the event: see here.

Background

The annual 5.6 km swim across Tampa Bay can be chilly in the water and even colder outside. The Tampa Bay Frogman Swim was born out of the need to help one severely injured Navy SEAL in 2010. The event has evolved to support wounded and fallen personnel and their families through the work of the Navy SEAL Foundation, consistently rated a top, four-star charity by Charity Navigator.