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For a worthy cause
Platteville swim team raises more than $1,000 for tornado relief fund
pla swimathon
Thirty-five members of the Platteville summer swim team spent two hours Friday evening swimming as many laps as possible as part of the annual Platteville Swimthon to raise money for the Platteville tornado relief fund.

     Friday evening 25 members of the Platteville summer swim team took one final swim for a worthy cause.
     The dedicated athletes raised $1,200 as part of the team’s annual Swimthon fundrasier at the Platteville Family Aquatic Center. Each athlete sought individual or business sponsors, who would donated a flat amount or pledged a certain amount per lap swam. Then the participants swam as many laps as they could during the allotted two-hours.
     Some of the older athletes swam over 100 laps (5,000 meters). Some of the younger swimmers still swam over a mile.
With flat donations and pledges the team raised $1,200. It will donate 90 percent of those proceeds ($1,080) to the Platteville Tornado Relief fund. The remaining 10 percent is going back to the team for the purpose of scholarships for underprivileged children in the community to be on the team next summer.
     The Platteville summer swim team consisted of 68 swimmers ranging in age from 6–17.
     The team completed a highly successful competitive season Saturday, July 26 by winning the Tom Caccia Platteville Invitational. The team also competed in meets at Beloit, Monroe, New Glarus and Milton. Along the way Platteville swimmers established 24 new team record under head coach Matt Wunderlin.
     “This summer we dedicated ourselves to technique,” said Wunderlin. “Our motto was ‘slow down so that we can go faster.’ Setting numerous team records and personal bests this swimmer demonstrated that this worked well for the athletes, and it shows that they put a lot of mental effort into learning how to swim well. There are always lessons learned, but that just means we can look forward to improving more next summer. I hope the children are as pleased with themselves as I am of them. They have shown themselves to be great members of the team and the community. I am proud to be their coach.”
     “I also want to especially thank Coach Anna Bast for all she’s done for the team over the years,” added Wunderlin. “She will be graduating nursing school next year and going to work with orphans in Cambodia next summer. She will be missed!”
Bast, a graduate of Platteville High School, swam under former Hillmen coach Tom Caccia. She will be finishing her nursing degree at Edgewood College in Madison next spring before she departs for work in Cambodia.