It all went swimmingly (From Swindon Advertiser)
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It all went swimmingly
10:29am Tuesday 21st June 2011 in Sport
SWIMATHON 2011 took place on the 8th-10th April.
The yearly swimming event raises money for Marie Curie Cancer Care and once again, swimmers from Wiltshire joined thousands of others from all over the UK in testing their physical ability to raise money for charity.
All in all, 15 pools in Wiltshire and 580 pools nationwide hosted the event and nearly 20,000 swimmers took part.
The challenge is for either an individual or team to complete either 2.5 or 5 kilometres.
The 5 kilometres is the equivalent of 200 lengths of a 25 metre pool.
Each participant gets sponsors and raises money for their team or individual event.
I have competed for the fourth year in a row now.
A friend and I did a 5 kilometre team event. After two months of training, we both finished our 100 lengths in under 55 minutes on the day.
The atmosphere was brilliant.
Everyone at St Mary's Sport Centre in Calne had trained hard and raised lots of money.
Lots of teams competed; groups of friends and families working together to get a speedy time.
Also the individual swimmers, showing off their strength and stamina.
Lots of the racers' friends and family came to support them, with banners and balloons.
The pool had a buzzing atmosphere with everyone cheering on all the swimmers.
I think taking part is an exhilarating experience, one I would recommend for anyone looking for a challenge and the satisfaction of achieving a goal.
The money raised goes towards paying for home nursing to terminal cancer patients and patients with other illnesses.
Seventy per cent of the money raised goes towards paying for the nurses and the resources needed for their job.
The other 30 per ecnt pays for next year's Swimathon fundraising.
It only takes £20 to pay for an hour of nursing, so imagine how much the massive event will have raised.
The exact result of the money raised will be released at the end of this week, and everyone is hopeful that, after all their effort, hard work and training, the grand total will be rewarding.
We are looking forward to Swimathon 2012 already!
