September 26, 2025 • 10 mins
Inaugural Charleston Trident Swim Nov. 16th, 2025 to support retired Navy Seals and Gold Star Families - powered by Disaster Plus
'This Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, we remember and honor the loved ones of those patriots who paid the highest price for our birthright of freedom.' - A PROCLAMATION BY DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
'This Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day, we remember and honor the loved ones of those patriots who paid the highest price for our birthright of freedom.' - A PROCLAMATION BY DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Those men died too young, too soon, and we can
never forget them.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is the Kelly Golden Show podcast powered by Disaster Plus.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Very important for the country.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
So today is gold Star Mothers and Families Day. This
is an annual proclamation. This is to commemorate the fallen
those who have died, for all of our freedoms and
for our country, and for their families who have suffered
such grievous losses. This is a proclamation commemorating gold Star
mothers and gold Star families.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
And they great people.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
What they've got to go through.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Very few people could have gone through this kind of thing.
Gold Star, thank you very much. Just being recognized by
the White House the last Sunday in September, you have
gold Star Mothers and Families recognized. That happened in DC
this week, and that's happening here on Sunday across America.
And I found a brand new event coming up who
(00:56):
is actually going to be raising funds to support not
just gold Star families, but also retired Navy seals. Joining me,
Kathleen Wilson. Boy, you're the race director of the inaugural
Charleston Trident Swim and you my dear have quite a
history when it comes to being a great marathon swimmer,
so they really picked the right gal for the job.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, thank you and thank you for taking an interest
in this event.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I was honored to be called upon to help organize
this event, and you know certainly the waterside portion, and
I'm very very happy to do so. Yes, we are
bringing the Charleston Trident Swim to Charleston on behalf of
the Navy Seal Foundation as a fundraising mechanism for not
only gold Star families, but active duty retired seals all
(01:47):
sorts of resiliency programming, scholarship, life work, transition, medical care,
you name it. This foundation covers it for its seals.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So November sixteenth, it's coming up. Put it on your calendar,
the inaugural Charleston tried. Didn't swim and give us a
little bit about your history about being a marathon swimmer.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
I've done a lot of swimming. I mean I've done
many of the great swims, you know, your English channels
and around Manhattan and Catalina and Lake Zurich, Long Islands,
found a bunch of them. I like to swim, and
I think that's part of what resonated with me with
this event is the seals are your most water oriented
special operators of all of them, and so I'm very
(02:27):
fond of it. And coupled with my background, I had
the skill set. I'm the race director and the founder
of the Swim around Charleston, so I had that skill set,
I had those connections and it was fun and a
challenge at the same time to plug those in for
a brand new event that has some pretty unique twists
to it.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Let's talk about the race route, how the whole dale
go down.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
It's a great, great route. We will kick off on
November the sixteenth at nine am with an opening ceremony,
and that ceremony is fairly solemn. It's a serious ceremony
because we're honoring seals killed in combat or in training,
and so we have some Gold Star families in attendance.
But those men died too young, too soon, and we
(03:10):
can never forget them, so we honor them through this ceremony.
And at ten am the swimmers will enter the water
and it's a four mile swim, all kayaks supported. Each
solo swimmer has a kayak. It is wet fud mandatory
because of the water temperatures at that time of year.
I mean, for me, I can get in a swim
and it's not a problem. But I'm not going to
put civilians and non adapted swimmers into those waters. And
(03:34):
they will match up with their paddler and continue south
from the Maritime Center which is right next to the
African American Museum and go around the battery. So it
couldn't be more scenic and a perfect viewing platform for
the public as they swim around the battery, up past
the Coastguard Station, the Marinas and finish at the pier
and dock at Brittle Bank Park.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
This is exciting, so again, mark your calendar. It's coming
up the Anauga Charleston Trident Swim on November sixteenth, and
I've linked up here in this cast a straight click
through for you to get more information because it's the
first of its kind swim here. But it's not the
first of its kind swim for the Navy Sale Foundation.
(04:17):
So what can you tell us about the Frogman series.
This is a first for us, and we work hard
for first so I'm excited Kathleen to be a part
of it. We want people to support it and visit
that link whether it's a donation, a sponsorship. Maybe you
want to sponsor a swimmer, be sure to hit that link.
But what's the Frogman Series?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
The Frogman Series is a terrific swim series that the
Foundation has organized. Those swims take place geographically, going north
to south in Boston, New York City, Annapolis, and Tampa
Bay is the crown jewel. They raise over a million
dollars a year for the Foundation. So geographically, Charleston fits
(04:56):
in beautifully. And of course we have this beautiful course
around the battery, couldn't be nicer, and we seem to
be a natural fit for another Frogman's swim. So this
year is a trial swim to make sure that we
get all the bumps in the road evened out, and
then I would love to see it take its place
in the Frogman's Series and continue on annually.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So who can be a part of this? Kathleen Wilson?
I mean, you're the race director, You've got a great
history as a marathon swimmer. But who that's listening right
now is like, man, I'm intrigued, but I don't know
if I can handle this well.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
It is a stretch and it's meant to be hard.
The seals don't do anything easy exactly, so this four
mile swim is it's a tough swim. It does have
a little bit of a tide assist I was. I
worked the tithes very carefully when choosing the date and
the start time of the event, but swimmers do.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Have to have that.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
For those who want to be a part of this
and simply can't swim four miles, we really appreciate any
monetary donations, maybe an inkind sponsorship or sponsoring a swimmer.
They're all sorts of mechanisms, and of course the public
is welcome to watch everybody swim around the battery, and
that opening ceremony is certainly open to the public. It's
(06:08):
going to be a little tight down there at the
Maritime Center, but we would never turn turn away anyone
from the public who wants to come in and take
part in that ceremony.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
What have you learned about the Navy sealed community here
in the Low Country? What can you share about that.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I can tell you that even when retired, they live
under the radar. I didn't know there were as many
internals and retired seals as there are because they stay quiet,
they stay humble, and they are an extraordinary group of men.
I have enjoyed getting to know them, just fielding phone
calls and inquiries and talking with people. I'm glad there
(06:45):
ares and they perform a service for us.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
We can't fathom you hit the nail on the head
about that. I know a few and I'm going to
be a dialing them up after this and find it out.
If they could swim.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Four miles, I think it's going to be great just
watching all of these people swim around the battery, and
you know, some of the seals, some of the retired guys,
even active duty. If they slip in and slip out,
you'll see them pulling packs as they swim. So nothing
like swimming miles pulling a pack with you.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Yeah, that's incredible. So and you said the tide will
be with them that day, at least on a large
portion of it.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
It will going down the Cooper, they'll have a pretty
nice ride down the Cooper River to the battery, and
then upon making that turn at the battery and heading
up the Ashley River, that's going to be slack tied
and they won't get quite the push that they did
coming down the Cooper but we can't have it both ways.
So I know how to structure that from swim around
Charleston all those years, and I think they'll enjoy the course.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Well. The course, we'd love to see people lined up
along the battery. It ends at brittle Bank Park. What
can they expect at Brittlebank Park? Rounding out the race at.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Brittle Bank we will have an after party. We will
fish the swimmers out at the pier in the dock
and we'll get the kayaks out at a nearby location.
Swimmers will undergo quick little medical check. I want to
make sure we've got emt We've got sufficient medical there
because hypothermia is a concern with both swimmers and paddlers,
(08:10):
so we want to be covered from a medical perspective.
And then we'll we'll be tented down at brittle Bank
and those who have signed up and to come to
the after party will join us for the after party
and we'll we'll celebrate the swim. There's a bit of
a closing ceremony that isn't quite as solemn as the
opening ceremony, but we still want to bring the focus
(08:32):
back to the foundation and the services that the foundation provides.
You know, I step back into the shadows. I'm just
the race director, I'm the facilitator. I want to let
these men and the foundation shine well.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
We wanted to shine because Charleston, when we do things,
we do them well. And this being an inaugural Charleston
Trident Swim, we want this to return, especially for the
fact that the Navy Seal Foundation does wonderful things, not
just for currently serving seals, but retire sales. They're family
those we will never forget, the gold Star families. Thanks right, Yeah,
(09:05):
I just I really would encourage everybody to click the
link of the cast here and be a part of this.
You can google Charleston try to Swim, and I'll take
you right to that link as well. Kathleen, We're gonna
keep spreading the word about this because a day of
I really would like to see that race route whether.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Oh absolutely, you are most welcome to come down. And
I will add that the Navy Seal Foundation is a
Platinum rated nonprofit. Ninety four cents out of every dollar
goes directly to programming. So for those making a donation
we're sponsoring a swimmer, it is not wasted funds. Those
funds go to a really high use and they serve
(09:44):
a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
November sixteenth, so time to get it together. Whether it's
the wetsuit that's mandatory, get your practice route in. Can
you just go start swimming the route to practice?
Speaker 1 (09:56):
No, no, no, I would never get in those waters
without an escort. It's one of those things where at
this point in time, if you can't swim a couple
of miles, you're probably not going to make four miles
and sixty three degree water in November. But you can
still give in other ways. But it's something to aspire
to in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Yep, because we're going to make the inaugural something really
to be proud of. And that starts we sure are
that starts with you. Check out the link Google Charleston
Trident swim again linked up in the cast here Kathleen Wilson,
best of luck. I can't wait for November sixteenth coming up.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Thank you very very much for your time, thank you
for your interest, and this is going to be a
fantastic event.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
This edition of That Kelly Golden Show podcast is powered
by Disaster Plus Buzz Don't plus when You'll have BLUs
calls seven Queen Bowl of seven, Cleen Bowl of Seven,
disaster plus
Those men died too young, too soon, and we can
never forget them.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is the Kelly Golden Show podcast powered by Disaster Plus.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Very important for the country.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
So today is gold Star Mothers and Families Day. This
is an annual proclamation. This is to commemorate the fallen
those who have died, for all of our freedoms and
for our country, and for their families who have suffered
such grievous losses. This is a proclamation commemorating gold Star
mothers and gold Star families.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
And they great people.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
What they've got to go through.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Very few people could have gone through this kind of thing.
Gold Star, thank you very much. Just being recognized by
the White House the last Sunday in September, you have
gold Star Mothers and Families recognized. That happened in DC
this week, and that's happening here on Sunday across America.
And I found a brand new event coming up who
(00:56):
is actually going to be raising funds to support not
just gold Star families, but also retired Navy seals. Joining me,
Kathleen Wilson. Boy, you're the race director of the inaugural
Charleston Trident Swim and you my dear have quite a
history when it comes to being a great marathon swimmer,
so they really picked the right gal for the job.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Well, thank you and thank you for taking an interest
in this event.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
I was honored to be called upon to help organize
this event, and you know certainly the waterside portion, and
I'm very very happy to do so. Yes, we are
bringing the Charleston Trident Swim to Charleston on behalf of
the Navy Seal Foundation as a fundraising mechanism for not
only gold Star families, but active duty retired seals all
(01:47):
sorts of resiliency programming, scholarship, life work, transition, medical care,
you name it. This foundation covers it for its seals.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So November sixteenth, it's coming up. Put it on your calendar,
the inaugural Charleston tried. Didn't swim and give us a
little bit about your history about being a marathon swimmer.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
I've done a lot of swimming. I mean I've done
many of the great swims, you know, your English channels
and around Manhattan and Catalina and Lake Zurich, Long Islands,
found a bunch of them. I like to swim, and
I think that's part of what resonated with me with
this event is the seals are your most water oriented
special operators of all of them, and so I'm very
(02:27):
fond of it. And coupled with my background, I had
the skill set. I'm the race director and the founder
of the Swim around Charleston, so I had that skill set,
I had those connections and it was fun and a
challenge at the same time to plug those in for
a brand new event that has some pretty unique twists
to it.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Let's talk about the race route, how the whole dale
go down.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
It's a great, great route. We will kick off on
November the sixteenth at nine am with an opening ceremony,
and that ceremony is fairly solemn. It's a serious ceremony
because we're honoring seals killed in combat or in training,
and so we have some Gold Star families in attendance.
But those men died too young, too soon, and we
(03:10):
can never forget them, so we honor them through this ceremony.
And at ten am the swimmers will enter the water
and it's a four mile swim, all kayaks supported. Each
solo swimmer has a kayak. It is wet fud mandatory
because of the water temperatures at that time of year.
I mean, for me, I can get in a swim
and it's not a problem. But I'm not going to
put civilians and non adapted swimmers into those waters. And
(03:34):
they will match up with their paddler and continue south
from the Maritime Center which is right next to the
African American Museum and go around the battery. So it
couldn't be more scenic and a perfect viewing platform for
the public as they swim around the battery, up past
the Coastguard Station, the Marinas and finish at the pier
and dock at Brittle Bank Park.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
This is exciting, so again, mark your calendar. It's coming
up the Anauga Charleston Trident Swim on November sixteenth, and
I've linked up here in this cast a straight click
through for you to get more information because it's the
first of its kind swim here. But it's not the
first of its kind swim for the Navy Sale Foundation.
(04:17):
So what can you tell us about the Frogman series.
This is a first for us, and we work hard
for first so I'm excited Kathleen to be a part
of it. We want people to support it and visit
that link whether it's a donation, a sponsorship. Maybe you
want to sponsor a swimmer, be sure to hit that link.
But what's the Frogman Series?
Speaker 1 (04:35):
The Frogman Series is a terrific swim series that the
Foundation has organized. Those swims take place geographically, going north
to south in Boston, New York City, Annapolis, and Tampa
Bay is the crown jewel. They raise over a million
dollars a year for the Foundation. So geographically, Charleston fits
(04:56):
in beautifully. And of course we have this beautiful course
around the battery, couldn't be nicer, and we seem to
be a natural fit for another Frogman's swim. So this
year is a trial swim to make sure that we
get all the bumps in the road evened out, and
then I would love to see it take its place
in the Frogman's Series and continue on annually.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
So who can be a part of this? Kathleen Wilson?
I mean, you're the race director, You've got a great
history as a marathon swimmer. But who that's listening right
now is like, man, I'm intrigued, but I don't know
if I can handle this well.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
It is a stretch and it's meant to be hard.
The seals don't do anything easy exactly, so this four
mile swim is it's a tough swim. It does have
a little bit of a tide assist I was. I
worked the tithes very carefully when choosing the date and
the start time of the event, but swimmers do.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Have to have that.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
For those who want to be a part of this
and simply can't swim four miles, we really appreciate any
monetary donations, maybe an inkind sponsorship or sponsoring a swimmer.
They're all sorts of mechanisms, and of course the public
is welcome to watch everybody swim around the battery, and
that opening ceremony is certainly open to the public. It's
(06:08):
going to be a little tight down there at the
Maritime Center, but we would never turn turn away anyone
from the public who wants to come in and take
part in that ceremony.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
What have you learned about the Navy sealed community here
in the Low Country? What can you share about that.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
I can tell you that even when retired, they live
under the radar. I didn't know there were as many
internals and retired seals as there are because they stay quiet,
they stay humble, and they are an extraordinary group of men.
I have enjoyed getting to know them, just fielding phone
calls and inquiries and talking with people. I'm glad there
(06:45):
ares and they perform a service for us.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
We can't fathom you hit the nail on the head
about that. I know a few and I'm going to
be a dialing them up after this and find it out.
If they could swim.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
Four miles, I think it's going to be great just
watching all of these people swim around the battery, and
you know, some of the seals, some of the retired guys,
even active duty. If they slip in and slip out,
you'll see them pulling packs as they swim. So nothing
like swimming miles pulling a pack with you.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
Yeah, that's incredible. So and you said the tide will
be with them that day, at least on a large
portion of it.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
It will going down the Cooper, they'll have a pretty
nice ride down the Cooper River to the battery, and
then upon making that turn at the battery and heading
up the Ashley River, that's going to be slack tied
and they won't get quite the push that they did
coming down the Cooper but we can't have it both ways.
So I know how to structure that from swim around
Charleston all those years, and I think they'll enjoy the course.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Well. The course, we'd love to see people lined up
along the battery. It ends at brittle Bank Park. What
can they expect at Brittlebank Park? Rounding out the race at.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Brittle Bank we will have an after party. We will
fish the swimmers out at the pier in the dock
and we'll get the kayaks out at a nearby location.
Swimmers will undergo quick little medical check. I want to
make sure we've got emt We've got sufficient medical there
because hypothermia is a concern with both swimmers and paddlers,
(08:10):
so we want to be covered from a medical perspective.
And then we'll we'll be tented down at brittle Bank
and those who have signed up and to come to
the after party will join us for the after party
and we'll we'll celebrate the swim. There's a bit of
a closing ceremony that isn't quite as solemn as the
opening ceremony, but we still want to bring the focus
(08:32):
back to the foundation and the services that the foundation provides.
You know, I step back into the shadows. I'm just
the race director, I'm the facilitator. I want to let
these men and the foundation shine well.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
We wanted to shine because Charleston, when we do things,
we do them well. And this being an inaugural Charleston
Trident Swim, we want this to return, especially for the
fact that the Navy Seal Foundation does wonderful things, not
just for currently serving seals, but retire sales. They're family
those we will never forget, the gold Star families. Thanks right, Yeah,
(09:05):
I just I really would encourage everybody to click the
link of the cast here and be a part of this.
You can google Charleston try to Swim, and I'll take
you right to that link as well. Kathleen, We're gonna
keep spreading the word about this because a day of
I really would like to see that race route whether.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Oh absolutely, you are most welcome to come down. And
I will add that the Navy Seal Foundation is a
Platinum rated nonprofit. Ninety four cents out of every dollar
goes directly to programming. So for those making a donation
we're sponsoring a swimmer, it is not wasted funds. Those
funds go to a really high use and they serve
(09:44):
a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
November sixteenth, so time to get it together. Whether it's
the wetsuit that's mandatory, get your practice route in. Can
you just go start swimming the route to practice?
Speaker 1 (09:56):
No, no, no, I would never get in those waters
without an escort. It's one of those things where at
this point in time, if you can't swim a couple
of miles, you're probably not going to make four miles
and sixty three degree water in November. But you can
still give in other ways. But it's something to aspire
to in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
Yep, because we're going to make the inaugural something really
to be proud of. And that starts we sure are
that starts with you. Check out the link Google Charleston
Trident swim again linked up in the cast here Kathleen Wilson,
best of luck. I can't wait for November sixteenth coming up.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
Thank you very very much for your time, thank you
for your interest, and this is going to be a
fantastic event.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
This edition of That Kelly Golden Show podcast is powered
by Disaster Plus Buzz Don't plus when You'll have BLUs
calls seven Queen Bowl of seven, Cleen Bowl of Seven,
disaster plus
The Kelly Golden Show News
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