Competing is a scramble for the Haines Glacier Bear swim team, an unofficial high school sport that raises its own money, practices early on weekday mornings and tries to carve a niche in a school schedule already busy with more established activities.

“We don’t have a stopwatch. We don’t have uniforms. We don’t even have caps, but we’ve got a team,” said volunteer coach RaeAnn Galasso, who organized a squad for up to three meets…