This year is the 50th time the Swimarathon has been held and as well as Ms Roland also present were members of the family of the late Sir John Loveridge, who was the Bailiff at the time of the first event in 1977.
Another milestone this year will be the first time that a sea swim has been held in parallel with the lengths of the indoor pool, and event organising committee chairman John Stuart said it has been brought in due to the popularity of sea swimming locally in recent years.
‘The whole point is that the swimming landscape in Guernsey has changed and I think because of the mental health aspect of it, it’s become very popular,’ he said.
The ‘Salty Swim’, as its called, is something of an experiment and will see two lanes of swimmers using the Ladies’ Pool.
Because of the health and safety issues of outdoor swimming the organisers have liaised with Sports Commission, said Mr Stuart, and people had been trained up as spotters and watchers to keep an eye on participants.
As usual, the main event at Beau Sejour will take over eight lanes of the main pool and will also see swimming in the smaller pools, all of which will be watched by the centre’s own lifeguards.
Only a few people seem to be attempting to swim at both locations, he said. ‘Initially we had people who booked for Beau Sejour and La Vallette, but as they’ve got nearer to the time they’ve dropped one or the other.’
However, swimmers from sponsors Skipton International will be taking part in both pools.
Mr Stuart was unable to say exactly how many swimmers were likely to be involved. ‘We don’t know until people turn up. But we know that St Sampson’s and Les Beaucamps High Schools will have about 300-400. And with the Salty Swim I think we’ll have a good 2,000 involved.’
This year’s event runs until noon on Sunday.
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