Swim & Play Makes Waves with $11,000 Raised

May 15, 2019

Participants at the swim-a-thon

Nearly 200 participants stroked, kicked, and splashed their way toward raising more than $11,300 at the Seventh Autism Awareness Swim & Play, held May 4 at the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey’s (ESCNJ) Aquatics & Fitness Center in Parlin, NJ.

Participants earned donations for the number of laps they completed, with John Thompson leading the way with 100 laps. Other top performers were Nicole Cornley and Daniel Grothues, who both completed 50 laps.

“With so many people here, it made for a great social experience for the many of our students who attended,” said Katelyn Dauphinee, Site Director at the Aquatics & Fitness Center. “We had great table vendors, and there was plenty of fun for our students over the three hours. We also got to meet with many members of the public who participated and really added to the day.”

Swim & Play began modestly in 2012 as only a Swim-a-Thon, but it has expanded each year to become an event that everyone can enjoy. In addition to the professional lap pool, the Aquatics Center offers an activity pool and a lazy river for children and adults of all ages. A wheelchair lift was available for the lap pool, as well as plastic wheelchairs that wheel directly into the activity pool.

For those inclined toward non-aquatic activities, a bounce house, arts-and-craft area, and game area were some of the fun activities available.

ESCNJ, honored as one of Autism New Jersey’s 2018 Ambassadors of the Week, provides intensive ABA services in four schools for students with autism and their families from more than 50 school districts. It is also a resource to many local school districts seeking to improve their in-district programs for students with autism by state-of-the-art methods in Applied Behavior Analysis.