Swimathon Festival 2021 is set for Sept. 10-12, the organization announced on Thursday, in a first of its kind united event.
The events, which include a Swimathon and open-water Swimathon, will take place on the same weekend for the first time across Great Britain. As always, it will race funds for cancer research, benefit Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie, as well as for the Foundation in further its role in promoting swimming as a healthy lifestyle choice.
The United Kingdom’s largest annual swimming event has had three quarters of a million take place since its founding in 1986. More than £54 million have been raised. The open-water Swimathon was added in 2017, and more than 1,500 participants took part in 2019.
The organization raised more than £1 million in 2020. Some 18,000 swimmers took the Swimathon Challenge – via the MySwimathon digital challenge, with larger gatherings cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic – in 2020, swimming a combined 19.5 million meters.
“The Swimathon community stuck together in the face of adversity last year and I’m so proud at how we overcame the odds to raise so much for charity,” Anthony Kendall OBE, Swimathon Foundation chair, said in a statement. “We can’t wait for our community to celebrate the return to the water with us this year, and the decision to align Swimathon and Open Water Swimathon brings our communities even closer to continue building our fabulous event.
“Last year was hard for pools across the country, and the individuals who do such good work in so many small communities. Charities, though, have also been hit really hard by this unprecedented period, and the chance to get back in the water and raise money for good causes is something we are proud to help support. This year’s event feels more important than any we have run before, and bringing our two biggest events together means we stand more chance of raising much-needed funds for our charity partners Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie.”
For more information on Swimathon Festival 2021, visit www.SwimathonFoundation.org.