The varsity and JV swimmers of the swim team made a splash on April 8 during the Swim-a-Thon fundraiser held in support of the victims of the recent disaster in Japan.

The girls’ varsity and JV coaches, Kristen Thomson and Heather Bridges respectively, were the main organizers for this event, one which the swim team put together for the first time this year. The entire team participated in the Swim-a-Thon in place of its regular Friday practice.

The fundraiser was set up with a 200-lap minimum for varsity swimmers and 100-150 laps for JV. Swimmers raised money either lap-by-lap or through a fixed pledge, and the funds were donated to the Salvation Army, according to Bridges.

The event received much positive feedback from the swimmers themselves.

“It was actually really fun!” senior varsity swimmer Debbie Lin said. “Many teachers agreed to donate money. It was a huge success because everyone participated.”

Everything went smoothly, and the team made around $4,800 for the Salvation Army. The team and coaches are even looking ahead to the future.

“Some of the swimmers have shown an interest in making the Swim-a-Thon an annual event,” Bridges said. “The coaching staff will be in full support if the students would like to do this again.”

Lin supported this idea and said, “It gives swimmers a break from the tiring workouts while earning money for a good cause and if not, maybe just for funding the swim team.”

Coaches and swimmers bonded during the fundraising event when coaches Christian Bonner, Courtney Crase, Bridges and Thomson jumped in the pool as well.

“In the beginning, coach Christian challenged the club swimmers who were there and tried making us feel bad for being ‘slow.’ But we ended up beating him by a lot,” varsity swimmer junior Rebecca Chen said.

Later during the Swim-a-Thon, swimmers and coaches began racing each other half-laps from a dive, stirring up some friendly competition.

“More people started to join our competition against Christian, and the whole event turned into a match against all the coaches who were in the pool,” Chen said. “It was a lot of fun!”

The swimmers gained support from parents and teachers through donation pledges.

“Unfortunately, we did not have any teachers participate,” Bridges said. “But hopefully next year we
will!”