Guernsey Press

Swimarathon tops £4k after first sessions

MORE than £4,000 had been raised by the end of the first two sessions of the 2018 Swimarathon.

Published
Gary Dovey, the outdoor pursuits coordinator for Le Murier School, the main beneficiary in 2018, starts this year’s first Swimarathon session. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 22713248)

The official opening of the event at Beau Sejour took place on Wednesday evening and the organisers are already looking at a promising year.

This year’s ambassador, Gary Dovey, outdoor pursuits coordinator for Le Murier School, started the event. The main beneficiary this year will be the school’s Village Project, an idea that Mr Dovey has driven forward for the past five years.

It involves building four log cabins designed to help students learn independent living skills.

Skipton Swimarathon chairman Nick Guillemette said the launch had gone well.

‘We had two sessions, one at seven and one at eight,’ he said.

‘There were people from the swimming clubs, Cub Scouts, Old Elizabethans, and people from various corporations.

‘The grand total at the moment is just under £4,400 – that’s after two sessions.

‘That also includes money raised by Les Beaucamps High School.

‘They were swimming all day on Wednesday and raised more than £1,000.

‘I think from memory something like 160 people have taken part so far and they’ve swum more than 60km.’

With what looks like a strong turnout, Mr Guillemette is hoping this could be a record year.

‘At the moment the indicators are looking quite good,’ he said.

‘I don’t want to overstate it as you never know, but we have more teams swimming than we’ve had before, which is really good – it’s encouraging. If they all raise the same kind of money we should be in for a good year.’

Fundraising in 2017 reached the £55,000 mark.

Since the Swimarathon’s inaugural year in 1977 more than £1.3m. has been raised for Guernsey charities.

The Lt-Governor, Vice Admiral Sir Ian Corder, was due to start the swim this morning as the Grammar School, Beau Sejour Swim School and St Mary & St Michael School started their efforts.