MUNSTER | Though it's a bit reassuring that there are at least two pre-teens who don't own an iPhone or iPad, Lindsy Vanek and Kay Foley hope their uncommon distinction will be rectified come Christmas morning.
"That's what I hope I'm getting," Lindsy said of Apple's latest incarnation -- the iPhone 5.
"The iPad TouchPad is on my wish list," Kay said.
Well before Lindsy and Kay, both 11, were to receive such gifts, they were in the giving spirit as participants of the Munster Swim Club's annual Candy Cane Tri-Dual, Dec. 15 at Munster High School.
Each of the 200-plus swimmers representing the MSC, Irish Aquatics Swim Team from South Bend and the Lansing Swim Organization donated at least one item for a "Toys of Tots" local collection.
"I donated a 'Bob It Smash'," Kay said of hand-held reaction game from Hasbro.
James Ashcraft donated two items, one of which was a Darth Vadar mask and light sabre set.
"It picked it out myself," said 12-year-old James, who's a big fan of the Star Wars franchise, even though it started more than 20 years before he was born.
"I'm anxious to see the (new) movies coming up," James said.
James, Lindsy and Kay are all members of the Munster Swim Club. James and Lindsy are relatively new to the team, but Kay has been club swimming for four years.
"I started when I was younger, but then I stopped for a while," Kay said. "Now, I'm back."
In conjunction with Irish Aquatics, the Munster Swim Club has been hosting this annual holiday-themed event for six years. The Lansing Swim Organization joined the fray last year.
"This is a good fun way to mark the halfway part of our season," MSC head coach Matt Lee said. "After the holidays, we really go at it. Actually, we're going at it pretty hard now."
Lee said that the team is "shooting for a Top 10 finish" at the Age-Group State Championships, to be held in March.
"We're stacked in the 9-10 and 11-12 age groups," Lee said. "We have about 170 swimmers ... 125 of those swim competitively."
This season, the MSC has a new president, Patrick Callahan, and a new vice-president, Mark Kunas.
"But we've participated in this before," said Callahan, who has several children who have been with the club for several years. "This has always been for a good cause, and now my job is to make sure this as well as our other meets run smoothly."
Lee started the event with former Irish Aquatics head coach Wil Bernhardt, whom he often swam against during their age-group, prep and collegiate careers.
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