Often we get so caught up in what our Bearcats do in playing competition that we lose sight of what they do when they’re not sporting the green and black.

But recently, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have taken an active role in the community. Team members have participated in a variety of activities to help better the lives of many in the Binghamton area.

Some members of both teams participated in the John McKenna Memorial 5K run, an event featured in Pipe Dream, held in memory of a member of the Binghamton University crew team who was killed in Iraq this past summer.

In addition, BU swimmers Caitlin Golden, Angela Zhu, Nicole Sweeney, Amanda Decker and Adina Fischer spent an afternoon in March reading to children at a local elementary school. Zhu, Sweeney and Fischer, along with Kristyn Mohr, Jodi Brown, Stephanie Gomez, John Blatchford and Dylan Hobe also spent a day this month participating in Habitat for Humanity programs in the Binghamton community.

The entire men’s and women’s teams have also been helping out at Cub Care, an after school program held every Friday afternoon for the five elementary schools in Vestal, including Vestal Hills Elementary School, African Road Elementary School, Clayton Avenue Elementary School, Glenwood Elementary School and Tioga Hills Elementary School. They help the students with activities and homework after school until they are ready to go home.

The teams also came out with the rest of the school to participate in Relay for Life, contributing to the over $90,000 brought in by students for cancer research.

Varsity athletes by day, community builders by night. We at Pipe Dream thank the BU swimming and diving teams for setting a positive example in the Vestal community and bringing a positive image to what it means to be a Bearcat.