Jersey Swimarathon Raises £77k

Monday, 18 March 2024 08:18

After five days frantic front crawl, the Swimarathon has raised nearly £77,000 for Jersey charities.

More than 2,500 swimmers took part in the five-day event at Les Quennevais pool. They collectively completed more 21,618 laps and have raised £76,627.73 so far.

Organisers of the 52nd Jersey Lions Swimarathon have hailed an 'amazing achievement' by everyone involved.

Lion Damon Greber, organising committee chairman, said:

“This is Jersey Lions’ flagship event and once again it was simply amazing to see so many swimmers taking part from toddlers up to those in their 70s. It’s what makes the event special as we have people of all ages coming together to swim, dance along to DJ Geof and more importantly raise money for nine incredible charities making a real difference to the Jersey community,”

The Swimarathon was sponsored by Ravenscroft, who cover the all the costs of staging the event, which has raised more than £3.8 million since it began in 1972.

Managing Director Haydn Taylor says the support has been incredible, even thought times are financially challenging for lots of people:

“We know that an increasing number of Islanders are struggling financially and so to see them being as generous as they have been is just amazing. The charities chosen give invaluable support to islanders with additional needs and we hope that the fundraising total continues to rise over the coming weeks.”

The theme for 2024 theme was ‘Supporting Outdoor Wellbeing and Therapy Projects’ and the charities chosen to benefit were Brighter Futures, Beach Ability, Jersey Mencap, Jersey Sea Cadets, Acorn Enterprises, Autism Jersey, Wet Wheels Jersey, Healing Waves and Les Amis.