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11th annual Water Daze makes a splash

Sharidan Russell | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 3 months AGO

<p>Best friends and Polson eighth graders Gwen Seeley and Molly Sitter embrace after coming into shore within minutes of each other. The two are also swimmers for the Mission Valley Lake Monsters swim team, which the 11th annual Water Daze raised money to support.</p>

<p>Three members of the Starkey clan, Co Carew, Bill Starkey, and Polson graduate Mesa Starkey, embrace after the final member of their family finished the race. Aja Starkey, the younger of the two sisters, also competed.</p>

<p>Lake Monsters swimmer Hannah Simpson hugs her father and discusses strategy after the two finished the race concurrently. Hannah, eight, is the youngest person to ever compete in the mile-long open-water swim that makes up Polson's Water Daze.</p>

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by Sharidan Russell
| August 9, 2014 8:00 AM

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&lt;p&gt;Three members of the Starkey clan, Co Carew, Bill Starkey, and Polson graduate Mesa Starkey, embrace after the final member of their family finished the race. Aja Starkey, the younger of the two sisters, also competed.&lt;/p&gt;

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&lt;p&gt;Lake Monsters swimmer Hannah Simpson hugs her father and discusses strategy after the two finished the race concurrently. Hannah, eight, is the youngest person to ever compete in the mile-long open-water swim that makes up Polson's Water Daze.&lt;/p&gt;

As the mile-long open-water swim entered its 11th year it met record participation in diverse age groups. This year we saw over 20 more participants willing to submerge themselves in Flathead Lake and race from City Docks to Boettcher Park.

This year's event also saw Hannah Simpson, an eight year old, participate with her father. Simpson is the youngest person to ever complete the mile-long race, and she finished in less than an hour.

When the event began, it was meant to raise funds for the construction of the Mission Valley Aquatics Center. With the construction now completed, the yearly Water Daze event has become dedicated to funding MVA's youth swim team, the Lake Monsters.

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