Woman coming home to RI to Swim the Bay for her sister-in-law

Posted 4/28/16

The 40th annual Save The Bay Swim currently has 259 swimmers registered from 16 states.

One of those is Cranston native Joanne Burrows Sadlowski, who’s coming home from Dallas, Texas, for the …

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Woman coming home to RI to Swim the Bay for her sister-in-law

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The 40th annual Save The Bay Swim currently has 259 swimmers registered from 16 states.

One of those is Cranston native Joanne Burrows Sadlowski, who’s coming home from Dallas, Texas, for the 1.7-nautical-mile journey. Sadlowski spends time here every summer, and she hasn’t swum the Bay in 24 years, 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, Burrows, 55, was finally diagnosed with a rare form of terminal cancer in December. With the support of many friends and family members, she’s now undergoing rigorous chemotherapy that will last the rest of her life.

As a little girl, Burrows’ Pawtucket family spent their summers at beaches all over the state, swimming, fishing, and picnicking; she passed that tradition on to her own children. She married her husband, Steve, by the Point Judith Light House, and before she got sick, they often sat at Rocky Point looking out over the water or riding bikes along the East Providence bike path with the Bay at their side. “From my house in Narragansett, I hear the waves crashing on the shore. I guess we have always gravitated to the beautiful Rhode Island waters,” Burrows said.

“Alice is my beach buddy. We sit and talk about all of life’s problems while tucked under a beach umbrella watching the ocean. I can’t even calculate the number of hours we’ve spent together on the beach. We both love Narragansett Bay,” said Sadlowski, who only recently resumed swimming after taking time off to raise her children. “One day, I was just paddling along, and thought, ‘what if I do the Save The Bay Swim, and do it in Alice’s honor?’”

Burrows, of course, was in. “It is so important to preserve the beauty and life of our Bay so our children’s children can continue to enjoy it and experience the same fun we did as children. I am so proud of Joanne. I could never do what she will be doing in August. I will be living vicariously through her.”

The 40th Save The Bay Swim will be Sadlowski’s fourth. The difference between this one and her first three, she says, “is about 24 years,” which means she’s kicking up her training a notch and she’ll be here early in the summer for a lot of open water practice. “If I am tired and don’t feel like working out, I think of Alice. She is always so positive. If she can force herself to go to chemotherapy, I can force myself to go to the pool,” Sadlowski said.

“I am so excited for this swim. In the past, I’ve loved swimming halfway across and taking a minute to look up at the Newport bridge, and seeing all the people swimming for this great cause. These are some of the best memories in my life,” she said.

The 40th annual Save The Bay Swim will be held on Aug. 13, 2016. Five hundred swimmers and some 100-plus kayakers between the ages of 15 and 83-plus, representing more than 20 states, annually participate in the 1.7-nautical-mile journey from Naval Station Newport on Coaster’s Harbor Island across open water to Jamestown’s Potter Cove.

One of the most storied open-water swims in the United States, the Save The Bay Swim celebrates tremendous progress in cleaning up Narragansett Bay since its first official Swim in 1977 and the organization’s founding in 1970. In the early years of the Swim, swimmers often emerged from the water with oil and tar balls on their skin and swimsuits. Last year, swimmers reported seeing schools of menhaden beneath them as they swam.

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