Rotarians are inviting local swimmers to take part in their 25th Wilmslow Swimathon to be held in March.
The Rotary Club of Alderley Edge & Bollin Valley started organising the Swimathon in 1988, since then well over two thousand swimmers representing a cross section of local life have raised over £140,000 for many local and national charities.
The money Rotary raises will go to help The Sick Children's Trust and Diabetes UK but the Swimathon has the added attraction that the teams are allowed to keep up to half of the money raised for their own funds or a charity of their choice.
This year's event will take place on the evenings of Saturday 7th March and Saturday 14th March at Wilmslow Leisure Centre.
Andrew Henshall, swimathon organiser, said "Why not raise a team of six swimmers to swim for an hour, and help us to make the 2015 Wilmslow Swimathon the best ever. This is open to all businesses and all charities as well as youth organisations based in the local area.
"Several teams will have been ever present since our first event. We give our sincerest thanks to these teams and all the others who have taken part in the Swimathon over the years. We hope that you will be there in March, whether as newcomers or seasoned veterans."
Each team consists of six swimmers who swim on a relay basis. Each team will be allocated a lane in the pool and how the team organises the swim is left up to them. Some teams have their strongest swimmers swim several consecutive lengths to give their team mates a longer rest, whilst teams of less than six swimmers may enter but this means more swimming by each member.
Each evening is divided into hourly slots at 6pm or 7pm and the aim is to swim as many lengths of the pool as you can in 55 minutes. The other five minutes is for change over. The Wilmslow pool is 25 metres long and an average team will swim around 100 lengths during their slot. Each team member can expect to swim around 16 – 17 lengths with a rest of about 3 minutes in between.
Andrew added "This is well within the capabilities of the average (unfit) swimmer. Water wings have been known. The event is a bit of fun not a race. Supporters are welcome.
"Participating teams raise money by each member getting sponsors for their efforts either on a per length completed by the team or a fixed sum basis."
Click here to download an entry form, the closing date for entries is Friday 27th February.
