From the Swindon Evening Advertiser 10th October 2012
Family of swimmers in line for top award
A FAMILY is in the running to be crowned the UK’s unsung swimming stars after taking the plunge for charity.
Jason Tait and his wife Denise, along with their children Ben and Maya, raised £600 for the cancer charity Marie Curie after taking part in a swimathon.
KEEN Jason, Ben, Denise and Maya Tait after their swimathon
The Tait family, from Oakhurst, have now been nominated for the family of the year award at the 2012 Kellogg’s ASA Swimtastic Awards this weekend, and are set to meet some of Britain’s Olympic heroes.
The four will travel to Ponds Forge, in Sheffield, on Saturday, October 20, to swim with the stars of British swimming, including Paralympics’ double gold medalist Ellie Simmonds, before the awards evening.
Jason was a keen club swimmer when he was younger but gave up in his late teens.
He has now taken up swimming again, along with Denise, to support his children who have been swimming since they were 18 months old.
In April, Jason and Ben, five, signed up for a swimathon in Oakhurst and decided to sign up Denise as a joke. The family ended up completing the swimathon with three-year-old Maya, raising £600.
Jason has also started training to become a swimming teacher and has taken up open water swimming to overcome his fear of open water.
He said: “This has been an incredible year which we will never forget. My wife and I have been able to teach our children about the importance of charity work and all four of us are fitter than ever because of swimming together.
“Maya is only three so it has been so wonderful to get her involved in sport and charity at such an early age.
“Swimming has provided us with opportunities and experiences we could never have imagined – including a new career path into aquatics for myself and now an award nomination for Swimtastic, which we are completely overwhelmed by.”
The Kellogg’s Swimtastic Awards are organised by the ASA, the national governing body for swimming, and celebrate the achievements of swimmers of all ages and abilities from around the country.
Olympic bronze medalist and BBC sport presenter Steve Parry is hosting the awards. He said: “The whole country is on a high after the Olympics, which is fantastic, but now it’s time to recognise the heart-warming, courageous stories of our swimming community up and down the country.”
For more information on getting into swimming in your area visit www.swimming.org.
Source – Swindon Evening Advertiser
Ben and Maya Tait swim in Swindon Dolphin’s Learn to Swim and Jason Tait currently shadow teaches within the programme.
To donate to the Tait’s preferred charity go to www.justgiving.com/taitswimmers
21st October 2012 ~ Tait family win award!!
Listen to the BBC Wiltshire Radio interviews with Jason and Ben before and after the event.
