Exactly 1 month till the world's greatest swim!

Dear Rotary Friends and Family around the world,
As someone who has put their very heart and soul into this incredible global event over the last two years, with exactly 1 month to go at 12 noon , I truly feel this is the perfect time for me to write a personal letter to you all.

It's a letter filled with enormous gratitude and wonder at we have collectively achieved, and a letter filled with anticipation about the possibilities that are opening up before us.

In late 2010, Rotary Global Swimarathon was nothing more than a momentary spark of inspiration from our event chair and fellow Rotary Club of Grantham member Roger Graves.

He just wanted to share a bit of the magic of our biggest club and community fundraiser with the rest of the world.



Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors, Earlyactors, Rotakids, Inner Wheelers, families and friends, supported and inspired by Paralympians, Olympians and World Champions made that dream come true.

25 February 2012 the nearest Saturday to Rotary day saw the most inclusive and biggest simultaneous global swimming event in human history.

Guinness World Records officially recorded the 4546 participants aged between 8 and 93 synchronizing their 100 metre swims in 23 countries , 15 different time zones across 5 continents.

All united in the shared cause of eradicating Polio from this earth raising over $100,000 from that 1 inspirational hour.

So here we are in 2013. And on Rotary day the 108th anniversary of its foundation, 23 February 2013, it will be 24 inspirational hours.

It will be the biggest global Rotary club led same day fundraiser in our history. It is set to become the world's biggest ever inclusive same day global swimming event. One look at this map tells you all you need to know. 180 clubs in 43 countries and 6 continents.


View Rotary Global Swimarathon 2013 in a larger map

Except this. To add your club, or group, or even just you as a person to this map, all you have to do is find at least 1 person who is able to swim on 23 February 2013 and register on the website as instructed in the video below

Yes there will be well over 100 community events around the world, guaranteeing that in every minute of that 24 hours someone will be swimming with you. But you don't need to hire a pool or fill out detailed registration information to take part - it's not being measured by Guinness World Records this time, so there are no minimum participation requirements. You can choose to support End Polio Now or any other charity you choose, and you make the arrangements to donate funds raised locally.

All you need to do is register, let us know where you are swimmming, at what time, with how many people and after the event tell us how much you raised and for which charities. So please join us, be part of something bigger than all of us.

http://www.rotaryglobalswimarathon.org



I'll leave you with the Rotary moment that changed my world in last year's event. Watching 14 year Moin Junnedi, India's youngest national paralympian completing his swim. He suffers from a severe brittle bones condition which has meant he's suffered with over 200 fractures during his young life- just a day or two before this swim, he suffered 4 fractures but was so determined to take part. Recently I was honoured to become his friend on Facebook - His ambition - to swim in our Grantham event - we will do whatever we can to make that happen in 2014 the 25th anniversary of our local swimarathon.



Right now, I want you to ask yourself just one question. Do I know someone who can swim? If you do, if that's you, if you can spare half an hour on a Saturday afternoon or whatever time suits you on 23 February 2013 in your time zone , please join us. Share it with your club, share it with your district, represent your entire country.

Be part of something magical. Together we really can make a difference.

Thank you for reading, your support means the world.

Paul

Paul Wilson
Rotary Club of Grantham
Rotary Global Swimarathon event co-ordinator

Please email rotaryglobalswimarathon@gmail.com for more information