The swimmers begin their Swim-a-Thon (Photo – Scott Phelps)
Twelve Blair swimmers swam up to 100 laps beginning at about 4:50 pm at the Blair pool on the cool evening of Thursday December 1st for their Swim-a-Thon fundraiser.
By Scott Phelps
Each had a goal to raise at least $200 for the Blair girls swim and water polo teams. The money will go towards tournament entry fees, uniforms and equipment like a new floating goal. They had each asked friends and family to give a fixed amount or a per lap amount, and they had an hour to swim up to 100 laps. Each swimmer had a friend sit on the deck at the end of the lane and serve as an official counter of the number of laps completed. CIF champion swimmer Ella Lesnever and Blair boys water polo team captain and CIF medalist swimmer (and JROTC Captain) Reilly Espinosa finished the 100 laps in about 30 minutes, and several others swam the full 100 laps too over a longer time. (Reilly is planning a fundraiser in January for the boys water polo team so stay tuned!) As of Tuesday December 6th they have raised and collected $6184, woo hoo! (If the reader would like to give to the effort, one can donate to Blair Boosters, the 501(c)(3) charity booster club at Blair. Donations are tax deductible. Their Venmo is @blairboosters, Zelle is blairvikingboosters@gmail.com or a check can be written out to Blair Viking Boosters and dropped at the school.)
Before the Swim-a-Thon started, the Blair girls water polo team played a game against a team of Blair staff plus a Blair girls team member recruited to be their goalie, with all players in colorful inner tubes. It was a close match as the Blair girls team barely prevailed 11-10! Blair staffers and the girls team both played hard and with no referees, holding and other fouls were common. Students and staff members were on hand to cheer on their favorite teams.
It was a great afternoon for the Blair aquatics program, and showed the great can-do spirit of the staff and the students!
Blair teacher Steve Cole reaches for the ball (Photo – Scott Phelps)
Team goalie, and senior swimmer, Anabella Nunez takes a break. Lap counters Kate Higginbotham (R) and Ariel Phelps (center) encourage her efforts (Photo – Scott Phelps)
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