Last Sunday around 150 Swindon Dolphin swimmers from all squads took part in the “Paddle to the Pole” sponsored swim in support of Teenage Cancer Trust.
Each swimmer had one hour to swim as far as possible using any items of training kit with not surprisingly, fins being a popular choice with most swimmers. Distances swum per swimmer ranged from 400 metres from some of the small pool participants to well over 3,500m from many of the Olympic Squad. A total of 317,300 metres were paddled, with all lengths ably recorded by willing parent helpers who were continually fed tea and cake by swimmers awaiting their allotted swim time – a real team effort!
Swimmers going the distance whilst recorders
Gary Southern, Paula Prunty and Gabby Clark count the lengths.
The event was organised by Sally and Steve Herbert who lost their son Luke to cancer two years ago. This year’s fundraising follows the fantastic efforts of the previous two years which saw Dolphin and local rivals Tigersharks raise over £6,000 for the same cause.
Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity which targets help specifically for teenagers with cancer, a group of young people who need specialist care and support when faced with this horrible disease. Visit www.teenagecancertrust.org for more information.
