Swimathon Celebrates Its 30th Year

Swimathon, the world’s biggest annual fundraising swim, celebrated its 30th anniversary recently with a reception at the House of Lords.  To date, the event has raised over £48 million which has been distributed among 36 different charities including the 2017 official charity partner, Marie Curie. 

Swimathon began in 1986, with its national launch taking place in 1988.  Since then the event has seen over 500,000 participants at over 1,000 different pools across the UK, getting involved, swimming for the challenge and raising money for charity.

Swimathon President and Olympic gold-medallist Duncan Goodhew MBE said: “I have been involved with Swimathon since 1988 and over the last 30 years it has been a real joy to see it develop and mature into the great event it is today.  Nowadays there are thousands of well organised sports participation events, mostly running and cycling, which raise money for charity but that wasn’t the case in 1988. Swimathon really was ahead of its time, giving people a chance to get active and do some good at the same time. I am so proud of both Swimathon’s longevity and its legacy.”