The Cortez Leopard Sharks swim club hosted a swim-a-thon on Thursday evening at the Cortez Municipal Swimming Pool.
Eighteen swimmers, as well as head coach Ian MacLaren, took to the water to raise money for the club.
They had two hours to complete as many laps as possible – with a 100-lap maximum – and received pledges from sponsors to donate either on a per-lap basis or as a lump sum.
“It’s something that we’ve never really done before,” MacLaren explained. “So I thought it was cool that the kids were able to go out into the community and get sponsors, and we certainly appreciate everyone who put forth some money.”
Thunder and lightning, followed by rain, forced the Leopard Sharks to exit the pool a bit before their two-hour time limit was up, but MacLaren said that by that time most of the swimmers were finished.
The club awarded gift cards to the swimmers that completed the most laps and USA Swimming donated prizes as well.
“It was a lot of fun,” said MacLaren. “I thought it was great that we had so many kids come out and celebrate our season with something fun like this.”
Club treasurer Candi Duran said that swimmers have until August 18 to collect donations, but that they have already received over $1,500 and are well on their way to reaching their $3,000 goal.
Five percent of the donations will go to the USA Swimming Foundation, but the remaining funds will be used for Leopard Sharks scholarships and equipment.