Swimming a total of 2,159 laps, or 61.3 miles, in over three hours, 31 faculty members and students raised $2,000 for the Free the Children organization in the annual Non Sibi Society Swim-a-Thon on Sunday.
Through Free the Children, $25 can buy a school kit for a child, $50 can buy a goat for a family, $125 provides clean water for a family, $500 provides a six-month lunch program for a school and $850 builds a school or school room, according to the Free the Children website.
Sarp Orgul ’16 swam the most laps overall with 275 laps, equaling a distance of 7.8 miles. Corinna Torabi ’14, Qi Qi Ren ’15 and Amy Zhao ’14 swam the most laps out of girls with 130 laps, or 3.7 miles, each, according to Nate Smith ’13, Co-Head of Non Sibi Society.
In order to swim, each participant was required to find at least one sponsor to donate either a certain amount of money per lap or to donate a fixed amount, according to Jenny Zeng ’13, Co-Head of Non Sibi Society.
Smith said that the fundraiser was also intended to raise awareness for Free the Children.
Free the Children is an international charity that combines youth service education in North America and the United Kingdom with child-focused development in Africa, Asia and Latin America, according to the organization’s website.
Craig Kielburger, Co-Founder of Free the Children, spoke at an All-School Meeting on October 10 and urged students to get involved with community service.
Last year, the Swim-a-Thon raised about the same amount of money for Akshaya Patra, an Indian organization that provides mid-day meals to Indian school children, according to Zeng.
Non Sibi Society held an online vote within the club to see which organization they would donate the proceeds to prior to the Swim-a-Thon, according to Smith.
“There was a tie between two organizations [Akshaya Patra and Free the Children], but we made the decision to choose Free the Children because after Kielburger’s presentation, the PA community had already been informed about the organization and the good work that it does,” Smith said. “We hoped that more people would participate in the Swim-a-Thon because people would recognize [Free the Children].”
Several members of Non Sibi Society had also been previously involved with Free the Children. Jamie Chen ’15 and Elaine Chao ’14 visited Kenya last summer to help with one of the organization’s sites, and Hailey Novis ’13 helped raise funds for Free the Children throughout middle school, according to Smith.
“I participated in the Swim-a-Thon because it benefited Free the Children, which is a fascinating organization working to improve education on a global scale. Also, I love participating in events that bring students and faculty together outside of the classroom,” said Joan Rasmussen, Teaching Fellow in Math.
“I always try to participate each year. It gives me a reason to get back in the pool again. It gives me a better perspective of what I am expecting our JV swimmers to do when I start helping as an assistant coach with the team this winter,” said Dave Hurley, Assistant Coach of JV Swimming.
Charlie Van Eijk ’14 said, “Among other reasons, I used this swim to get back into the pool one last time before Varsity tryouts begin on Monday. While I was swimming my 100-plus laps, I knew that I was not only preparing myself for tryouts, but I was also raising money for an important cause.”
“It was a good way for me to raise money for just something that I like to do. I think I swam around 50 laps, raising $100,” said Gabriel Braunstien ’16.
The cluster and swimmers that raised the most money will be awarded a prize after Thanksgiving break.
