Welcome to the Official Rotary Global Swimarathon Blog!

Hello and a very warm welcome to this the first post of the official blog of the Rotary Global Swimarathon event taking place on the 25th February 2012. We are inviting Rotary Clubs and friends all around the world to organize teams of swimmers to take part in a global simultaneous swimming event with all proceeds going to the EndPolioNow campaign. 

For the past 22yrs have seen the Rotary Club of Grantham,  England  hold a highly successful “RotarySwimarathon” raising over £500,000 for local charities and deserving causes.

In 2012 (apart from the usual event 3/4/5 Feb) they are holding an extra event – this will be in the form of a Rotary Global Swimarathon - setting a new World Record (presently 2533) for the most number of people swimming at the same time anywhere in the world and raising funds towards Rotary Internationals worldwide project to eradicate Polio.

The event will take place on Saturday 25^th February 2012 at midday – 1pm GMT.  To qualify for the World Record attempt each swimmer will have to swim just 100metres without stopping within the hour – there will be a nominal entrance fee which will all go to the Rotary Foundation – and help in the campaign to rid the world of Polio

After 20 years of hard work, Rotary and its partners are on the brink of eradicating this tenacious disease, but a strong push is needed now to root it out once and for all. It is a window of opportunity of historic proportions.

Your contribution will help Rotary raise $200 million to match $355 million in challenge grants received from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The resulting $555 million will directly support immunization campaigns in developing countries, where polio continues to infect and paralyze children, robbing them of their futures and compounding the hardships faced by their families.

As long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk. The stakes are that high.

Event Chairman Roger Graves  said –“it all started as a bit of a joke to hold a Global Swimarathon but now the reality is setting in and we hope to achieve the following across the world:-

1.       Set a new World Record for the most number of people swimming at the same time

2.       Raise funds towards the elimination of Polio

3.       Increase the awareness of Rotary

4.       Encourage more people to swim and stay fit

So far registrations for the event have been received from New Zealand, The Philippines, South Africa, Hong Kong, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

Stop press! – as of today, 27 th September 2011 , with exactly 150 days still to go , we already have over 70 clubs planning to take part, in over 30 countries across all 6 continents of the world . You can get all the latest updates and information at http://www.facebook.com.rotaryglobalswimarathon/ or why not follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/rotaryglobeswim