MONROE—Fortitude, commitment, and a love of family. That’s what kept Joey Nizzardo going as he swam over seven hours from Port Jefferson, New York to Captain’s Cove in Bridgeport, becoming this year’s Hartford Healthcare Swim Across the Sound first place solo swimmer. That, along with a little music and a lot of prayers.
For Nizzardo, a 20-year-old college junior and St. Jude Parishioner from Monroe, swimming has been a constant, from his early hometown meets at age nine through championships on the Rapids Team. Now, he competes as a Division I distance swimmer at Fairfield University, but he faced the ultimate challenge of mental and physical endurance in the waters of Long Island Sound on July 29. This time, however, he didn’t swim for a medal or an award. He swam for all those he knows affected by cancer.
“I did this for those I love,” Nizzardo said of the longest race of his career. “My grandfather is currently battling multiple myeloma, and one of my other relatives recently died from cancer. I think it’s really important that we can empathize with people who need money to get cancer treatments, and this is a great cause for that.”
As a solo swimmer, he raised over $3,325, thanks to donations from family, friends, and teammates and through posts on Instagram and LinkedIn. These funds, in addition to the over $400,000 total raised by this event, will benefit cancer patients and their families with life-saving treatments and financial assistance.
“I got lots of support for the cause from so many people,” he said. “It especially means something from my college friends who have so little money to spare.”
His mother Sarah Nizzardo agreed, saying, “Events like this are wonderful and allow him to be philanthropic for a special cause.”
As a relay swimmer with the Boo’s Crew team in 2022, Nizzardo decided to swim solo this year, one of more than 150 swimmers making the 15.5-mile journey across the Sound. “It was awesome and a lot of fun,” he said, the culmination of his extensive training period which included swimming up to 30 hours a week. While he dedicated the Swim to his family, they in turn were the ones who supported him the most.
During practice time, his father Michael, beside him in a kayak off Westport’s Sherwood Island, would monitor Nizzardo as he swam, throwing him a rope with a water bottle and peanuts for sustenance, imitating the procedures followed on the day of the Swim. And he was also aboard the boat with the captain, a medic, and others as his son swam across the Sound’s warm waters.
“The last couple hours were pretty hard, and there were moon jellies and sea lice, but when I saw my dad smiling from the boat, that felt great,” said Nizzardo, smiling himself.
Back at Captain’s Cove, his mother was offering support of her own and giving updates by phone to her older son Mikey, stationed in Alabama with the Connecticut National Guard. As parishioners at St. Jude Church in Monroe, the family received many prayers of encouragement before and during the event. For Sarah Nizzardo, though, it was the intercession of the Blessed Mother that brought her comfort, knowing her son was in precarious waters. “Lots of Hail Marys!” she said. “This became my mantra. I prayed to her as a mother and asked her to watch over Joey in the water. I couldn’t be with him, but I knew she could.”
Despite the mental, physical, and spiritual preparedness, before he hit the open water, Nizzardo admitted that he questioned himself. “I felt nervous and anxious, having never done this before,” he said. Replaying music in his head, he added, helped him soothe any anxiety and persevere through the ongoing soreness and trouble breathing.
In the end, Nizzardo finished victorious, arriving at Captain’s Cove to the crowd’s exuberant cheers and the open arms of his grandfather, teary-eyed and proud. “This is incredibly important for helping those who are struggling with a cancer diagnosis,” Nizzardo said. “For me, it was a great opportunity to combine doing something good with something I love.”
By Emily Clark
