The Mount Desert Island YMCA Sharks Swim team will be hosting the Annual Aquathon fundraising event this Sunday, February 5th, from 7:30 am to 1:30 pm at the Lenny DeMuro Swimming Pool at the YMCA located at 20 Park Street in Bar Harbor.

This year, in addition to fundraising for the MDI Shark Swim Team, each swimmer is bringing items to the pool for a donation to the Bar Harbor Food Pantry. In an email to Shark parents, Bar Harbor Food Pantry Director Jennifer Jones said " I feel so honored that the team thought of bringing some canned goods for the pantry. Our Island community is amazing!"

Every year coaches gives each child a goal to reach--anywhere from 40 laps in 1.5 hours up to 200 laps in 1.5 hours. Swimmers are tasked with asking their friends, neighbors, family and local businesses to support their efforts with pledges based on the number of laps them swim or a flat donation. Every year community swimmers, Shark alumni and parents also take part in the Aquathon to help raise money for the Sharks in this community-wide event. For anyone wishing to donate an item for the MDI Sharks Give Back Food Pantry donation, you can stop by the pool on Sunday during the Aquathon. The Pantry is looking for granola bars, crackers, goldfish, juice, coffee, tea, pasta sauce, canned soup and condiments like salad dressing, mayo and mustard. Also, toiletry items like soap, toothbrushes, floss are requested since those times are difficult to purchase in bulk.

The MDI Y Sharks are a USA-S/YMCA swim team of children 6 - 18 years old. The MDI Y Sharks were formed in 1971 and have been competing even when there was no pool for a few years. The Sharks now swim in the 6-lane 25 yard Lenny DeMuro Swimming Pool at the MDI YMCA. The team members abilities range from novice and recreational swimmers to some of the best athletes in the state. Each year, the Sharks place highly at the Maine YMCA State Meet and at the Maine Swimming Winter Championships. Their consistently high placing results are a testament to the hard work of the swimmers, their families/parents, and the wonderful MDI community

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