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26 February 2023
HAYSVILLE, Kan. (KSNW) — It’s nothing like any relay they’ve had all season. High school swimmers in Haysville, Derby, and Salina school districts are skipping sleep to participate in the 11th annual Swim to a Wish fundraiser.
“There’s no stopping. It’s round the clock. We started at 4:30 on Friday and we will swim until we hit mile 100. And that will be probably around noon on Sunday,” said Campus High head swim coach Kelly Kennedy.
The event was split between two locations: Salina South High School and Campus High School. Salina South completed their relays earlier this weekend.
One mile is 71 lengths of the pool. Teams of five swimmers are taking turns for a total of 20 miles for each athlete.
“It was a bit hard at first, but you get into it, and it feels a bit easier,” says Derby High School swimmer Simon Rocco.
Coach Kennedy started Swim to a Wish in 2013. Each year, the amount of participants grows.
“It’s amazing that they do this, and I really don’t have to ask. At the start of the season, the boys pretty much come to us and say, ‘I wanna do swim to a wish this year,'” said Kennedy.
Kennedy’s goal is to give back to an organization that helped his family.
His daughter Aubrey lost one of her kidneys to cancer at four years old.
During her fight, Make-a-Wish gifted her family a trip to Disney World.
“This is our way of paying Make-a-Wish back for creating the spark and putting the light back in our family in a pretty dark time and scary time,” Kennedy said.
Aubrey also appreciates the support.
“It’s really cool because I love knowing that other kids get the chance to have their wishes fulfilled. It gives them something to fight for,” Aubrey said.
Kennedy says, between the two locations, the goal is to raise $25,000 for the local Make-a-Wish chapter.
“We just went over $10,000 for Campus. So we got a little time left, and we got some money left to raise,” Kennedy added.
Kennedy describes the event as grueling, but the kids are more than happy to support the cause.
“It’s for a good cause, and I like coming out for the community and people,” says Campus High swimmer Sebastian Yearra.
Donations will be accepted at Campus High School’s Glenn Crum Natatorium anytime during the event. Online donations can be given to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.