TOWSON, Md. – Brian Earley had never been to Towson State University when he got a call from then men's swimming and diving head coach Ray Riordon.  His life would never be the same, leading to the formation of the Great Chesapeake Bay Swim in honor of his father.
 
Before Jack Saunderson was dominating the butterfly at Towson, Earley, who competed for the Black & Gold in the early 1980s, set a new record in that event for the Tigers and would be part of a Towson Athletics Hall of Fame team.
 
Earley came to Towson State in 1981 after being a JUCO All-American in the 100-yard butterfly at Anne Arundel Community College.  Having also been recruited by Shepherd College, the Annapolis native had never been to Towson State, having only been as close as Memorial Stadium.
 
"When someone calls and offers, says 'we have a great team, are just 45 minutes north of Annapolis, and I think you'll like [your teammates], that is a nice invitation," said Earley. "I didn't think much more than that; I went to Towson State to take Coach Riordon up on his invitation."
 
Earley recalled training under Riordon, a former Marine.  His first practice involved running around the university, the first time running was part of his swim practice.
 
"I was pretty wide-eyed. I was competing against big universities; everyone was big to me coming from a junior college," said Earley. "The running was new, the training was new, all my teammates were really good and really fast, it was intimidating even though I was coming in as a junior.  I held on to my hat and tried to fit in and keep up."
 
His career at Towson State would be a great one.  He set a new record in the 100-fly with a time of 51.69 seconds, which would hold at the school for six years.  He also competed in the 100 and 200 freestyle and as part of the relay teams.  He was part of two relay teams, the 400-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley, that set school records in 1982. 
 
Earley's first season with Towson, the Tigers were a perfect 12-0 and repeated as Tri-State champions under Coach Riordon.  That team would go into the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame, along with the 1980-81 team, in 1999.  Riordon himself went into the Hall of Fame in 2002, having led the Tigers to 23 winning seasons and seven league titles.  In Earley's two years with the Black & Gold, Towson combined to go 22-2 with a pair of Tri-State championships.
 
Earley's favorite memory came from traveling with the team to places he thought he would never visit just a few years earlier, including the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for the Ivy League Championships in March 1982.
 
"I developed lifelong friendships along the way and the values of what a group of people could do together if given the opportunity," said Earley. "I felt fortunate and proud to be there representing Towson."
 
Life took a turn for Earley after coming to campus.  His father passed away in the fall of 1981 from Type 1 Diabetes without ever seeing his son compete at Towson.  This was five years after losing an older brother to a car accident.  The following spring, Earley wanted to do something to honor his father, raise some money for diabetes research and show what he had accomplished in swimming.
 
"We could do something a little outrageous, or a lot outrageous, and raise some money and have some fun," said Earley. "In the spring of 1982, I, my brother and next-door neighbor started talking about a swim that would raise a lot of attention, and the conversation turned to crossing the Chesapeake, a very dramatic setting.  We thought that could bring in some money, simple as that.  I wanted to show my father what I could do, wherever he was, and do some fundraising at the same time. I knew my training from the Towson program would get me there but the how, where and when was the hard part."
 
Earley was embarking on what would ultimately be a nationally-recognized open water swim called "The Great Chesapeake Bay Swim" (GCBS).  He planned for the second Sunday in June when the Chesapeake is warmer and the presence of sea nettles are rare launching from the beach at Sandy Point State Park with his sights set on the Eastern Shore.  He also figured that Sunday would have fewer people out in the Bay, plus he could figure out the slack tide (no movement), which was critical to the crossing.  He did his due diligence, with his neighbor acquiring tidal charts and a rescue boat, and Earley calling organizations: some were good, like the Capital Gazette wanting to cover it, but some were not so good.
 
"I called the Coast Guard to give them a heads up on what we were doing, and a higher-ranking officer at the Annapolis station just said, 'Son, please don't do that,'" said Earley. "I just excused myself from the conversation and got off the phone before he figured out where we would be."
 
Sunday, June 13^th, 1982 came around with non-ideal conditions: raining, overcast skies and chilly.  And no one was at Sandy Point except for Brian's mother and a few friends.  It did not matter.  Brian completed the swim, for his father.
 
The event continued annually, with two more solo swims.  In the fourth one, seven swimmers jumped into the Bay.  Earley met a man named Fletcher Hanks, who had organized triathlons.  Brian at the time was a young person trying to finish school, self-admittedly, not an organizer.
 
"I thought the Chesapeake Bay Swim could be a bigger event with other qualified people as a fundraiser; I knew that could happen, but I wasn't ready to take that responsibility," said Earley.  "Fletcher Hanks said he could organize boats and create an event to raise money for the American Diabetes Organization.  In 1986, it opened up to a couple hundred people and it also introduced the current path of Sandy Point and going into the bridge spans, using the bridges as a fence line, making the event unique."
 
The event continued to grow to nearly a thousand people for the four-and-a-half mile swim on the bridge line, the narrowest part of the Chesapeake Bay.  There continued to be growing pains to the event: in 1992, most of the 900 swimmers had to be pulled out of the water due to a late start and tides being incorrectly judged.  But the event continued.  A new organizer, Charles Nabit, a businessman who was a board member of the March of Dimes and participant in the GCBS, took over.  The March of Dimes became the main sponsor, plus Nabit helped make the event safer, adding the assistance of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for precise tidal predictions plus an environmental cause, inviting the Chesapeake Bay Trust to share in the fundraising.  In 2019, for the 38^th annual GCBS, despite the course being shortened in half due to high wind speeds, nearly 600 swimmers took to the water for the event. The annual GCBS has donated millions of dollars to these non-profits since its inception.
 
Earley, who moved to San Diego in 1986, comes back every year for the GCBS, having been in 36 of the 38 events, only missing one for a surgery and another for a career event.  He continues to do it to stay in shape and contribute to its continued fundraising, but more important, for family.  It is a great event for him to see his family, plus there is pride that the GCBS has the Earley name connected to it.
 
"There are so many good things about it, I couldn't imagine not being there, but training for it is a little demanding; you want to swim it fast!" said Earley.
 
Earley is a business development manager for a CPA and Business Management firm in San Diego.  A Towson associate alum studying business, he finished his B.S. in Business Administration education at Chapman University.  He has supported Towson University through The Foundation Scholars program contribution to the Ray Riordon Scholarship and was thrilled to meet last year's winner of the scholarship, Jack Saunderson, at the Alumni dinner and auction.
 
"Jack is a world class athlete and a humble person; he and his teammates are representing the university very well in and out of the water – these are the attributes we need in our young men and women to be the future leaders in the community," said Earley.
 
"When Coach Jake Shrum came on the scene, I had been following Towson swimming & diving for years," said Earley. "With the improvement of his programs, I've been rooting a bit harder for them."
 
For Earley, though his current home is in California, Towson University and the team still hold a strong place in his heart.  He thanks his life as a student-athlete for helping to fill a void in his life when he was looking for and needed the structure and guidance.
 
"It is great seeing that Towson athletics is producing smart, engaged and community-minded young adults with the benefits of being a teammate," said Earley. "The component of giving back to the community as a student, that did not exist as much in my day, it is real rewarding to watch the program and the university as an associate alumni.  Once you attend and contribute, you are always part of the university, and I feel like I'm always part of Towson; it has had a big impact on my life."
 
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