A hundred Thame swimmers cover 36 miles and raise over £4K for charity

ONE hundred swimmers, in 18 teams, took part in the seventh Thame Swimathon at Thame Leisure Centre on Sunday, March 3, made possible by generous local sponsors – Thame Leisure Centre, Haddenham Beer Festivals Trust and Aston Hearing ,who covered the costs to hire the swimming pool. Most of the costs of the medals awarded to the participants were covered by Ignite Sport.

The teams swam 2,311 swimming pool lengths, which is the equivalent of almost 36 miles.

The fun and fundraising event was organised by the Rotary Club of Thame & District, and was supported by Thame Lions and Thame Inner Wheel, as well as family members and friends of Thame Rotarians.

At the end of each hourly swimming session, the Mayor of Thame Ann Midwinter, presented medals to all the swimmers. Ann said: “I would like to thank the Rotary Club of Thame & District for organising such a brilliant event. It was such a pleasure to see young and old having such a healthy and enjoyable time with the support of the families who came along to the swimathon to cheer, and help raise money for charity too.”

Thame Swimming Club entered seven teams – a great opportunity to raise funds for their own club. One of their teams swam the biggest number of lengths of all 18 teams, 218.

Barley Hill School participated with five teams this year. Jo Sackett, Barley PTFA Trustee, said: “Yet another fantastic event organised and run by the Rotary. The five teams from Barley Hill School thoroughly enjoyed themselves, raised a phenomenal amount of money and can’t wait for next year!”

All teams and the charities supported:

• Thame Swimming Club 7 teams
• Dippers and Divers 2 teams
• Barley Hill School 5 teams
• Team Ice Cream
• Team Rapid 6
• Team 50
• Wheatley Park School Interact Club

Graham Colverson, President of the Rotary Club of Thame & District, swam with his son and four grandchildren. Graham said: “Now in its seventh year, Thame Swimathon has become a major annual event for our Rotary Club. It provides an opportunity for many youngsters and adults to have fun and raise money, which is divided between local charities supported by our club, and the participants own preferred charities. I would like to thank everyone who has taken part this year, including the sponsors – not only those that help teams raise money but also those that support the cost of running the event – without them, we would be unable to run this popular activity.”

The total amount raised so far by the teams exceeds £4,000. The public can still donate online towards their favourite teams by March 17. The links to the teams’ fundraising pages can be found at www.thame.rotary1090.org at the Thame Swimathon section. More photos capturing the event can be found on www.facebook.com/thamerotary