Video courtesy Patrick Autissier.
Last month, the Cambridge Masters Swim Club swam their annual “Miles for Marly” fundraiser 100 x 100’s at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool. The team puts on the event each year as a tribute to their late head coach Marly Pineda, who died in a bicycle accident in 2010.
This year, 120 swimmers swam the 100 x 100’s on intervals ranging from 1:15 to 2:00. Altogether, the group swam 960,000 yards and raised $3,500 for the Marly Pineda Memorial Scholarship Fund at Smith College.
Pineda grew up swimming in New Mexico and went on to become the co-captain of the Smith College swim team during her junior and senior seasons. While on the team, she set pool records at Smith’s Dalton pool in both the 1000 and 1650 free. After graduation, she embarked on a career in coaching, becoming the interim head coach of the Cambridge Masters Swim Club and assistant coach of the Harvard women’s swim team. She died at the age of 24.
This year’s event had a record swimmer turnout and raised a record amount of funds. Next year, the event is tentatively set for January 8th, 2017. It is open to the public.