Swimmers Ready To Take Their Mark In Wilmington

WILMINGTON, MA -- The North Reading School Committee approved a proposal to form a joint, co-ed, high school swim team with Wilmington, pending approval by that town's school committee. North Reading has an established swim team with about 25 swimmers and would be the host school. As many as 10 swimmers from Wilmington are expected to join the joint team.

Wilmington was one of just three schools in the Middlesex league without a swim team. In February a group of parents and students started a petition drive to add swimming to the high school's winter sports offerings.

"Let's provide the 900 students at Wilmington High School with the opportunity to pursue an activity they love and represent their high school in competition with area schools as student-athletes," Crystal Kelley, one of the parents who helped organize the push, wrote in the online petition's introduction. "We believe a swim team would help our children grow in character, physical development, skill, and encourage them to be confident and healthy team-players."

For North Reading, the move helps defer some of the costs it pays to have its team train and compete at the Burbank YMCA in Reading. Wilmington would pay about $400 per student on the team. Wilmington does not currently charge user fees , meaning the School Committee needs to decide whether to charge swimmers or pay for the costs out of the athletic budget.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).