“The only easy day was yesterday.”

That famous Navy SEAL motto resonates with many Americans, and those powerful words certainly mean a lot to Ken Termini and local high school swimmers Jacob Piccini and Hunter Slaski.

Termini, Slaski and Piccini recently showed their profound appreciation and patriotism for Navy SEALs, all veterans, and the men and women currently serving in the armed forces by taking part in the Navy SEAL Foundation New York City SEAL Swim for Team 610.

Slaski is a recent Northwestern Lehigh graduate, and Piccini is a senior at Parkland Area High School.

The swim took place on Aug. 19 in New York City, and is a multi-sport open-water swimming event that brings together Former SEALs, Veterans, Police Officers, Fire Fighters, First Responders and civilians from across the country.

Termini – the former Palmerton boys basketball coach – organized Team 610, which consisted of him, Slaski and Piccini. Being an avid open water swimmer and a past participant of the New York City SEAL Swim, Termini wanted to expose local high school swimmers to the event.

“I do a lot of open water swimming. Last year I took part in the New York City SEAL Swim, and I loved it. It was an amazing patriotic experience honoring our heroes,” said Termini. “So, for this year I founded Team 610 with the goal of exposing local high school swimmers to this amazing event. I asked a couple of local high school swim coaches if any of their swimmers would like to attempt the 2025 Swim.

“Jacob and Hunter accepted the challenge and passed the qualifier on June 21 in Sea Bright, New Jersey. They earned the right to swim with our heroes on Aug. 16.”

The New York City SEAL Swim starts at the Empty Sky Memorial in Liberty State Park in New Jersey, and ends at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. The participants enter the Hudson River at Liberty State Park and swim to the Statue of Liberty, where they do 100 honor push-ups and 22 pull-ups for America’s freedoms and civil liberties.

Participants then swim from the Statue of Liberty to Ellis Island, where they do 100 honor push-ups and 22 pull-ups for America’s diversity. Next, participants swim across the Hudson River to Battery Park, where they grab American flags and run to the World Trade Center in Manhattan for the final stage of the event.

At the World Trade Center, participants do 100 honor push-ups and 22 pull-ups to honor all those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, Extortion 17, and all Americans who put it on the line for the United States of America.

Piccini and Slaski trained together under Parkland swimming coach Allison McPeek, who recommended both of the young men for the event. Slaski trained with the Trojans swim team because Northwestern does not have a varsity team.

Piccini was the first to commit to the event, and then approached his good friend Slaski to take on the challenge with him. Piccini had a successful 2024 season for the Trojans, finishing second in the District 11 100-yard individual freestyle, and was also a part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that finished second.

Piccini was also a member of the Trojans 200-yard freestyle relay team that brought home the district gold.

“I’ve always wanted to do this event. When I was younger, I saw this event on the television and I always wanted to try it. But the main reason I wanted to do it was because I wanted to honor and raise money for the SEALs that have fallen,” said Piccini. “It was the experience of a lifetime. I’m definitely going to try and do it again.”

The final stage of the event where the participants had to run to the World Trade Center with American flags in hand really had an impact on Piccini.

“They had two fire trucks holding up a huge American flag, and there were bag pipers playing during the running part in Manhattan where we ran to the World Trade Center. It was such an incredible scene to see.

“And then after we finished our last set of push-ups and pull-ups, they had speakers making remarks about stories on 9-11 and stories about the SEALs. Those stories were so meaningful and impactful, and it’s something I’ll never forget.”

After Piccini approached Slaski about joining him at the event, Slaski agreed to join his friend. Slaski, who graduated from Northwestern this past spring, is headed to the Coast Guard this fall where he eventually plans to apply to Rescue Swimmer A-School.

Slaski also had a successful swimming season in 2024, as he brought home District 11 2A gold in the 100-yard butterfly, and came in second in the 200-yard freestyle.

“Doing this was honestly one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life. It’s for a great cause. I loved doing it for them,” said Slaski. “And I’m really happy I decided to join Jacob and do it because I would have really regretted it if I didn’t.

“There were so many cool experiences. Not too long from the start you get to this field and all of these paratroopers fly in. There were so many scenes like that throughout the day. It was truly surreal.”

Both Slaski and Piccini are experienced swimmers, but navigating the waters of the Hudson River was still a challenge.

“Open water swimming is obviously much different than swimming in a pool. You have the waves, and then you need to really focus as well on staying on course,” said Slaski. “Jacob and I stayed together pretty close for the swimming part, though, so that helped a lot. But as a competitive swimmer, you have that mindset that you want to be challenged and you want to complete that challenge.

“And it was great that we could all do that together to honor our servicemen, because we all hold them in the highest regard. I am definitely going to take part in this event again.”

Part of the requirement for the New York City SEAL Swim is for teams to raise money for the Navy SEAL Foundation, which provides critical support for the warriors, veterans and families of Naval Special Warfare. Team 610 raised well over $20,000 for the Navy SEAL Foundation, which put them in the top five for funds raised, despite only having three team members.

“I hope to expand Team 610 to at least five high school swimmers next year. I ask that any high school swimming coaches with interested swimmers, please reach out to me,” said Termini. “These two young men that dedicated their time to do this with me this year absolutely crushed it. I love my country, and so do these young men.”

Any interested high school swimmers interested in joining Team 610 may contact Termini at KenTermini@yahoo.com.