A note from our founder, Lauren Yerkes, on Tori Martinez's story in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, and the night she walked our runway at Miami Swim Week, The Shows.
Tori Martinez was 23 when she found out she had stage 2 breast cancer. The results came through the night of her birthday.
I was 37 when I heard the words "stage 2 triple-negative breast cancer," and I thought that was young. Twenty-three is a different kind of young. You're building a career and a marriage, and suddenly you're the youngest person in the infusion room by decades.
That's the story reporter Kairi Lowery tells in The Daytona Beach News-Journal, with photos by Nadia Zomorodian. And right in the middle of it is a moment I'm so proud we got to share with her: Tori walking our runway at Miami Swim Week, The Shows.
Xo, Lauren
Tori's Story in The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Tori lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. In late January, she found a lump in her left breast, and the results arrived the night of her 23rd birthday: stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma.
She went through six rounds of chemotherapy while still working as an event planner at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, answering emails from the infusion chair. She showed up to treatment in color every time, from a bedazzled pink tank to bright head wraps, because chemo can make even small things feel bleak. She rang the bell after her final round on June 5.
Then came the part people don't see. In July, she had a double mastectomy with reconstruction, the same path I took after my own treatment. Today Tori is cancer-free and still going in every three weeks for preventive immunotherapy. As she told the News-Journal, ringing the bell isn't the end of the conversation. I couldn't agree more.
On Our Runway at Miami Swim Week, The Shows
One of the photos in the News-Journal's gallery is Tori on our runway at Miami Swim Week, The Shows, on May 28, walking for POST SWIM x The Chemo Club and representing cancer patients everywhere. She wore our Lolo Top and Ashley Bottom in Radiant Pink, just over a week before her final round of chemo.
That's exactly who this collaboration was made for. Our POST SWIM x The Chemo Club collaboration brings our Melanie, Lolo and Jill styles into Hot Girl Stripe, a limited colorway made exclusively for The Chemo Club, in solidarity with the women who show up, keep going, and deserve to be seen. Tori did all three, in front of a crowd, in a swimsuit.
Every POST SWIM suit is designed with surgical survivors in mind and built for every woman: scar coverage, flat-friendly options and adjustable coverage, without a clinical feel. Style first. Coverage is your call.
SHOP POST SWIM X THE CHEMO CLUB
"It Can Happen at Any Age"
The article notes that the median age for a breast cancer diagnosis in U.S. women is 62, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Tori is turning her experience into something for the women who don't fit that picture. Her Instagram community, @pinkinour20s, is a place for young women to share their own breast cancer experiences, and she's vocal about regular self-exams.
"No one wants to believe it can be a 23-year-old," she told the News-Journal. "It can."
My own diagnosis came after I pushed for answers, and I'd tell any woman, at any age, the same thing:
- Know what's normal for your body, and report changes right away.
- Do regular self-exams, even if you think you're too young to need them.
- Keep asking questions until someone listens.
- Get a second opinion if something doesn't feel right.
Thank You
To Tori: thank you for walking with us, and for letting people into your story. Sharing it at 23 is a gift to the next young woman who hears those words.
To Kairi Lowery and Nadia Zomorodian at The Daytona Beach News-Journal: thank you for telling Tori's story with so much care.
To The Chemo Club: thank you for partnering with us, and for building a runway where women like Tori get to be seen.
Shop Tori's Look
- Lolo Top in Radiant Pink
- Ashley Bottom in Radiant Pink
Shop POST SWIM x The Chemo Club: Hot Girl Stripe
Our exclusive colorway for The Chemo Club.
- Lolo Top in Hot Girl Stripe
- Melanie Rashguard in Hot Girl Stripe
- Jill Boyshort in Hot Girl Stripe
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was POST SWIM featured?
In The Daytona Beach News-Journal's October 2026 story on Tori Martinez, an Ormond Beach woman diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at 23. The photo gallery includes Tori walking the POST SWIM x The Chemo Club runway at Miami Swim Week, The Shows. Yahoo also published the story.
What is the POST SWIM x The Chemo Club collection?
Hot Girl Stripe, a limited colorway made exclusively for The Chemo Club, in POST SWIM styles including the Melanie Rashguard, Lolo Top and Jill Boyshort. It debuted on the runway at Miami Swim Week, The Shows.
Is POST SWIM swimwear made for young women after breast cancer?
Yes. POST SWIM is designed with surgical survivors in mind and built for every woman, at any age. Styles offer scar coverage, flat-friendly fits and adjustable coverage, whether you're in treatment, newly post-surgery, or years past it.