Davies High School to Host Swim-A-Thon

Saturday night for these high school students isn’t about hanging out with friends or going on a date. Instead, every lap they swim and dive they perform adds up for a local charity.

The 48 seventh through twelfth grade athletes and student managers of the Davies High School Boys Swimming and Diving Team will participate in a charity swim-a-thon on Saturday, January 12. The students have been collecting pledges for total yards swum and the challenge level of dives completed. Out of the total monies raised, 60% will be donated to a local charity and the remainder will be used for swim and dive team expenses.

This year, the team has selected Imagine Thriving as the organization to support.

“This year at Davies, us seniors have become aware of many people struggling with mental health issues,” said senior Captain Charley Graf. “Organizations like Imagine Thriving work to help those who struggle with these illnesses feel better and encourage those who need help to actually seek it out, instead of suffering in silence.”

“Involvement in sports can provide so many benefits for the athletes.  It has always been my goal for the program, that the athletes also give back to the community which they benefit so much from.  Additionally, the Swim-A-Thon gives them the opportunity to make and achieve goals both in and out of the pool.” said Davies Boys Swimming Head Coach Jennifer Johnson. She is assisted by Diving Coach Chantelle Mindt, and Assistant Swimming Coaches Matt Stinar and Jarren Fallgatter.

This is the eighth year of the charity event. Over the past seven years, the team has donated a total of $13,075.07 to John and Amy Johanson (to help pay for Amy’s ALS treatments), Special Olympics of North Dakota, FM Humane Society, Ronald McDonald House of Fargo Moorhead, Cat’s Cradle Animal Shelter, and Doug Hansen’s kidney treatments.