For Emma: Friends and family come together in Buzzards Bay Swim

WAREHAM — When 15-year-old Emma Whittaker passed away in February 2022, her friend and teammate Abbie Daniels wanted to find a way to honor her life.

Daniels would find it in the annual Buzzards Bay Swim, which Emma had been participating in since she was 5 or 6-years-old when she helped her dad set up the finish line at Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven.

And in 2017 when she was 10-years-old, Emma knew she wanted to take to the water.

“She was always at the finish line and always saw it and just figured it was something she wanted to be involved in,” Emma’s dad, Phil Whittaker said.

This year, 37 people swam on her behalf on the For Emma team, raising over $20,000 with a goal of raising $25,000 to support the Buzzards Bay Coalition and Emma’s passion for the Bay, the environment and making sure everyone has access to the water.

Daniels, who had been planning to participate in the Buzzards Bay Swim in 2022, founded the For Emma team after Emma’s passing to honor her life and love for the event.

First speaking with Emma’s parents for their approval of the team, Daniels and her teammates on the Old Rochester Regional High School swim team joined the Swim as the For Emma team.

Phil recalled Daniels saying, “If Emma can’t do it, we’re going to do it.”

“It was really just, she can’t do it, so we’re going to do it for her,” he said.

Now in its third year, the team brings the people who love and care deeply for Emma and her family together “in a way that she would love and more than just a memorial and more than just a way of sorrow,” Daniels said.

She explained that the For Emma team creates a way for Emma’s loved ones to stay together and respect her and “bring her memory alive in a way that is positive” while also supporting Emma’s passions.

“It’s been amazing to see all of these new members and people that were in Emma’s life or didn’t even really know Emma but love the fact that we’re doing it for her,” Daniels said.

According to Phil, many of the swimmers on the team are college and high school students who “ordinarily wouldn’t be involved in something like this” and would “probably never do the swim if it weren’t for the team itself.”

“They do it because of Emma,” he noted.

Phil added that he thinks the team attracts young people because the team focuses on fundraising for issues that teenagers can struggle with, such as mental health and accessing clean water.

Phil said the For Emma team is something he plans to be a part of for as long as he can, and while he can’t predict what the team will look like in 20 years, he said he would like to see it become more structured.

Currently, the team has formed and grown in an organic manner that Phil said has “been this kind of haphazard sign up.”

A more structured approach could include establishing team events such as training swims to grow the group of people participating into a more unified front, he said.

“This year we wrote Emma’s name on the swim caps, so when I was out swimming … I could see that they were on the team, which was nice to see,” Phil said.

According to Phil, the Buzzards Bay Swim is more than an event — there’s meaning behind it and everyone has their own reason to participate and fundraise for the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

“That’s the important aspect of it,” he said. “It’s not really just a swim.”

For Emma’s family and friends, the For Emma team adds an additional layer to the event.

“I think [Emma] would love the fact that me and her family have found a way to keep everyone together … and keep everyone just doing what [she] loved and being part of something bigger than themselves,” Daniels said.