Swimmer Michael Green is part of the Tyler Titans swim team. He is pictured swimming laps at East Texas Aquatics' Lap-A-Thon event to raise money for SPCA of East Texas.

Swimmers lined up at the edge of the pool at East Texas Aquatics in Tyler on Saturday morning to swim laps and raise money for the SPCA of East Texas.

“In normal circumstances, the Tyler Titans is our summer swim league,” said President of East Texas Aquatics Jason Montier. “I use the term ‘normal circumstances’ because nothing’s normal about this year. They would usually have a swim meet. With the summer swim league, there’s about 8 teams. This year there’s only four or five teams. So, it’s taking one of the meets off our schedule.”

With extra space on the roster, the team wanted to find a worth-while use of their time. Each swim season, the Tyler Titans raise money for a worthy cause. Because East Texas Aquatics youth swim coach Megan Rishel does double-duty working at the SPCA of East Texas as the cat coordinator, the choice was easy.

“I think it’s really cool. I work with young kids,” said Rishel. “They always ask me if I’m going to bring puppies to work, and they always ask me if I’m going to bring puppies to come swim. It’s nice to see two organizations that are nonprofit working together.”

At the Lap-A-Thon, the children’s wishes came true. Two French Bulldogs, Tyke and Bella, made their debut at the aquatic center and hopped into the pool.

The bulldogs’ owner, Brendan Johnson, said that Bella is an alumni of the SPCA program, and that they loved her so much they needed another, so they got Tyke.

Montier said that a big motivating factor of the fundraiser idea was to create something fun for the kids.

“We wanted to give the kids the opportunity to come out and swim on a Saturday,” said Montier. “It’s something the kids can do, we can have puppies on deck, [the kids] can do what they do well—swimming.”

Each swimmer had one or more sponsors that donated money per lap that they finished in the pool.

“So, the longer they swim, the more money we raise for the SPCA,” said Montier. “I would think that some of our six and seven-year-olds will probably only get about 500 yards — that’s about 10 laps, and that’s great for the little ones. Our more advanced swimmers that swim year-round with us may top out around three to four miles today.”

Both organizations encouraged those interested to get involved. The East Texas Aquatics center offers swim lessons, in addition to the opportunity to swim competitively. For more information on the SPCA, visit www.spcaeasttx.com