The Haines Dolphins swim team was able to exceed its $15,000 goal for the 2013 Swim-a-Thon, raising nearly $18,000.
Twenty-nine Dolphins participated in the April 13 Swim-a-Thon, a two-hour pledge-per-length event undertaken by the swimmers, who solicit donations from sponsors prior to the event. Four additional Dolphins swam make-ups later that week.
The swimmers, aged 5-16, swam a total of 4,104 lengths, or about 58 miles.
Coordinator Sarah Posey said though some swimmers had a hard time scrounging up donations, each swimmer, on average, raised about $611 this year.
Swimmers Jasper Posey and Madeline Andriesen were first and second to complete 200 lengths, finishing the nearly three-mile swim in about an hour-and-a-half, Posey said.
Nine swimmers besides Posey and Andriesen swam 200 lengths – the maximum distance allowed: Lydia Andriesen, Kayleigh Fisher, Rebekah and Naomi Green, Brennan Palmieri, Skye Posey, Elena Saunders, Haley Sweet-Cushing, and Tulsi Zahnow.