THE SPLASHED AND THE SERIOUS (HEAVEN)

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Reckless Diving, to Drive Up Rev-enue — The USC Song Girls join the race to help catastrophically-injured young athletes, by jumping into the pool for the innertube relay, at the 35th Annual Swim With Mike Fundraiser

I have a ton of new “followers” for this web site this year, thanks to its Facebook page, so a little explanation is in order, before I go any further with this article —

Every year at this time (for the last approximately 9 years), I bury the Rivalry Hatchet, and pay due respect to USC and especially to their Song Girls, for having the class — and willingness — to consent to don bikinis and participate in a relay race in the swimming pool, to raise money for the worthy cause known as “Swim with Mike.”

I only post flattering photos, and will not publish or tolerate any negative comments that would dissuade these girls from continuing their admirable efforts to contribute to this fundraising endeavor.  As you will see from the photos that I am posting now and the many more that I will continue to post throughout this week, the Song Girls, Dance Force, and other Trojan Cheerleaders consist of many beautiful girls… who are beautiful in spirit too, and that’s why they agree to take part in this event.

I highly recommend that you take a moment to visit swimwithmike.org, and look into donating some funds.  This organization’s mission is to provide scholarships for college athletes who are struck by major injuries like paralysis and amputation, but who somehow maintain their desire and drive to get their undergraduate and graduate degrees, and continue to make a positive difference for society.  By the way, the scholarships are NOT all for USC — They help send kids to many different schools, including UCLA.

I also encourage you to attend a Swim With Mike event some time.  The ones at USC always consist of a high diving show, a belly flop contest (which includes a Song Girl diving into the pool in full iconic uniform), a silent auction, a barbecue, and of course, the innertube relay race, where Trojan football players push Song Girls (and vice versa this year) the length of the pool.  It’s a fun, entertaining day, and you can definitely bring the kids, who can get their faces painted and play and swim in the pools.

To further entice you to attend or at least contribute, here are 47 more photos from Saturday’s event, with hundreds more coming during the upcoming week (so please check back often for new batches).  Click on the pics — especially the horizontal ones — to enlarge/zoom in.