Swim club event raises more than $1,500

Sentinel writer

Youthful swimmers were hard at it in the lanes of the public pool Saturday.

More than a casual weekend dip, the swimmers were in the pool to raise money as part of the Wrangell Swim Club' Swim-a-thon. The event drew 18 total swimmers to do continuous laps for three hours (with some breaks to grab parent-provided snacks). The swimmers had circulated around town and collected pledges on either a per-lap or lump-sum basis said Ally Adams, the club' coach.

"Some of them had 50 cents a lap, some a dollar a lap,"she said. "One member' goal was to get 200 laps."

"The money helps sponsor the program,"Adams added. "It pays for our coaches."

The club also hopes to accomplish an added goal this year of purchasing starting blocks for use in competition the following year, Adams said.

"We're hoping to at least get two of them so we can learn how to use them and they can at least compete,"she said.

This is the first year the club has official coaches. The team hopes to travel next year and compete with clubs from other towns, including Petersburg, Adams said. The club enjoys widespread family support, she added.

"We'e got brothers counting laps, fathers counting laps,"she said.

The club' goal was for each swimmer to obtain at least five sponsors. While some met that goal, others doubled it, Adams said.

In all, club swimmers totaled 1,333 laps (a distance of about 37 miles). They raised about $1,500, though that' an estimate based on the flat donation rate, and doesn' take into account sponsors who may have pledged as much as a dollar per lap, club officials said.