A total of 3,536 lengths, or 85 miles, was swum by 142 swimmers Saturday at Magens Bay in the St. Thomas Swimming Association Inc.'s 13th annual Snapple Swim-O-Thon. At 50 meters a length, that's a lot of water crossed.
Kathy Huttel, the association's executive director, said she was pleased with the turnout, which lasted past 4 p.m. The crowd was treated to pizzas, prizes, music and raffles.
Dr. Kevin Lenahan won the top place in the men's division and overall, completing 62 lengths in the one hour allotted time. Second place was taken by 14-year old Ishaka Jacobs, and third place was a tie between Pete Farmer and Dave Waller, both adult walk-in swimmers. Walk-ins join on the day of the meet.
Huttle's two daughters took first and second place in the women's competition. Lauren was first with 58 lengths, and Margo took second with 56 lengths. Jasmin Black took third place with 50 lengths. All are in their teens.
The Huttel girls are members of the swimming association's Sting Rays, and Black is a former member of the team. Huttle said Lauren was "disappointed in this year's score –last year she did 68 lengths." Asked what happened, Huttel explained, "volleyball."
Visitors from five cruise ships were also at the beach Saturday, and Huttel noted that some of the more adventuresome ones joined in.
"We had several tourists," said Huttel, "including one from London who was very impressed." She said he remarked, "There's no way you can do this in London." It would seem the Thames wouldn't lend itself to this sort of activity.
Huttle said they raised at least $20,000 toward the association's goal for completing its community pool, a project that has been in the works for 12 years.
"But, that's not an accurate dollar figure," Huttle said. The pledges that sponsors made for individuals and teams still are not counted.
Top children's teams were:
– Devil Rays – average 27 lengths
– Reef Rangers – average 22 lengths
– MSI Mullets – average 19 lengths.
Business teams:
– Knight Quality Stations – average 37 lengths
– First VI Federal Savings Bank – average 25 lengths
– U.S. Attorneys – average 24 lengths.
These figures don't include the association's Sting Rays, which Huttel leaves out of the running.
Huttle said a length would be when you stand on Magens shore and look out to the buoy, which may not look very long but "believe, me, it's longer than it looks."
