Rotary Global Swimarathon 2013 launch!

Well as they say time really does fly, can't believe the 30th March was the last post on this blog.

First let me bring you up to speed with all the exciting developments since then.
Last time I wrote we were hoping to break the $100,000 raised - we did that in style -some $105,287 the final worldwide total reported.

As for my Global Swimarathon recreation on my cruise holiday here you go

Part I



and Part II




I then went on to complete my own personal challenge for Rotary Global Swimarathon with a very icy dip up at Lake Windermere in the summer



from now on I'll leave the open water swimming to the experts Penny Palfrey and not forgetting Barbara Held who completed a double adding the English channel to her world record busting ocean swim in February!

Of course the summer time was incredibly exciting here in the UK with the Olympics and then Paralympics hosted in London. I was lucky enough to see rowing, Handball and best of all watch our very own team ambassadors - the Great Britain Women's Water Polo team in their first ever Olympic match - this is a fans eye view




We just about had time to catch our breath in between the Olympics and the Paralympics when on August 15th the news we'd all been waiting for came through - we were official Guinness World Record Holders!

Then to top it all we were shortlisted for and won the national UK Fundraising award for the best digital Facebook campaign

And so here we are in November, and sign ups for 2013 event are in full swing - we've updated and simplified the website we've added a detailed organization guide and we've contacted all the clubs that entered last year - we're hoping to pass 100 clubs signed up before the New Year. Plenty more updates to come, but the final word has to go to the world and our extraordinary 2012 event video Thankyou to everyone who made it such an incredible event, and thankyou for all your efforts towards 2013- hold on to your hats, we're just getting warmed up!!

Rotary Global Swimarathon - bringing the world together!!

40 days to go. A few days ago I wrote about an extraordinary coincidence , where Janet Mills who'd left Grantham 11 years ago, discovered from her Rotarian Travel Agent Ida Portella in Mareeba , Queensland that Mareeba would be joining in the Global Swimarathon. So wonderful to have a representative of our town , who's attended our local swimarathon events all those 1000s of miles away on the day.

Well my friends, it seems that the laws of chance have smiled on us once again!
Just speaking with Barry Phillips of the New Generations committee in our club today, and one of the original organizers of our very first event back in 1990. He was saying that unfortunately he's away on holiday on the day of the Global Swimarathon.

Turns out he'll be in Kenya, and more specifically it turns out he'll be in Nairobi, Kenya on the 25th February 2012

Well now, a few weeks back, thanks to the efforts of David Hastie, the Rotary Club of Nairobi officially registered for the event!

So, not only do we have Grantham represented Australia, we now have the opportunity for one of our very own club members to join in whilst all the way over in Kenya (assuming he remembers to pack bathing trunks!!)

Just shows how truly global the event has become - really, anything is possible

In the coming weeks and days, let's work together to get many more clubs signed up, and let us show the world just how remarkable the Rotary family really is.....

An Incredible Global community of swimmers united to End Polio Now!

46 days to go.

Another milestone reached, as we can announce our 40th full registered club taking part in the event.
The Rotary Club of Mawddach in District 1180 Wales, became our first entry from Wales, and our 17th overall in Great Britain and Ireland - many thanks to Rotarian Beryl Clark for registering your club.

We're reaching ever more countries as well - just today Ellen Yu from the Rotaract club of Shanghai, China confirmed that their club had voted to take part - so very much look forward to them joining the list.

Sometimes, rather than words, a simple picture will suffice. Here's a first draft map capturing all of the clubs signed up to date around the world - just wonderful to see it all here

View Rotary Global Swimarathon participants map

Sharing great event ideas around the globe!

49 days to go and counting. As of this afternoon UK time we now have our 39th entry confirmed and registered from the Rotary Club of Alnwick in Northumberland. Plenty of other exciting activity going on today. Invited to send a mail to pr@rotary.org at Rotary International HQ, so did just that and here's hoping we can take the PR to another global level!

More great news on the UK front as RIBI have confirmed that the next event nationwide press release is due to  be published next Monday 9th January. Just this afternoon,  team GB olympic waterpolo ladies got in touch requesting more info on how they can get involved and take part , so that's another exciting development.

On the subject of event organisation, I've really been hugely impressed by the fantastic events being prepared and built around the Swimarathon World Record attempt hour.

Take for example these two Rotary clubs in Queensland Australia - this is my kind of pool party!!

https://www.facebook.com/events/270827022981909/

Here's a few details - there's even a hush hush superstar swimmer being lined up which should be confirmed very soon

7.30pm  Gold coin donation to enter pool - Proceeds to END POLIO NOW -  Thanks to June who is not charging. BBQ and Bar - Proceeds from food and bar will go to the Mareeba Swimming Club to purchase a shade cloth for the pool - Rotary will run Bar and Food as a thank you to the swimming Club.
Entertainment - Waiting on confirmation from band suggested by June - No Charge -
 The following swimming events will be held, prior to the record event - there is obviously fees involved with the following events!
 1. Celebrity 50 meter Freestyle! -  local celebrities to take part in this race
2. Corporate 50 meter Medley Relay
 3.  Services 50 meter Medley Relay - Ida and Jeanette to follow up on this.
> Police Service - Confirmed - Organiser SGT Geoff Stockall Fire Brigade - Army Reserve - Rotary - Confirmed - Organiser - President Kevin Davies Ambulance - Lions - at 945PM sharp we will need to get all record swimmers ready so we can start at 10PM AEST sharp - The record will end at 11PM.
> We will close bar at midnight - Evening ends!


There are so many more great additional fundraising  ideas out there including street collections, tshirts, wristbands, corporate games, cupcakes, balloons, auctions, pre swim dinners - the list is endless - so one things for sure it's going to be a day to remember!!

Happy New Year - The countdown truly begins!!

First of all, let me wish each and every one of you a fantastic and unforgettably magical 2012. Here in the UK there's an unmistakeable extra level of excitement and wonder now that the Olympics and Paralympic Games are just around the corner.

As promised, today marks the first day of daily blog updates letting you know all the latest Rotary Global Swimarathon developments. Over the next 55 days we will be sharing all the latest entrant details and event plans with you, including where and how you can take part ,whichever continent of the world you happen to reside in!

No better place to start than our incredible and utterly inspiring Swimarathon ambassadors. We are truly blessed and completely overwhelmed to have two true swimming legends working with us.

Firstly want to say an enormous thankyou to all the Rotarians and friends out there who got behind and voted for our Australian ambassador World record holding ultra marathon swimmer Penny Palfrey to be World Open Swimmer Woman of the Year.

It was a remarkable response all round but one that she completely deserved for her amazing performances including the unforgettable Bridging the Cayman Islands Swim. In the end, she amassed over 18% of the votes and 1887 in total, finally just being edged out by the current double world marathon champion Pilar Geijo from Argentina. 
http://www.palfreymarathonswims.com/2012/01/wowsa-results-for-2011/

I'm very sure in 2012 with all the phenomenal challenges she has planned she will go one better. Whatever the case, we will continue to give her our absolute support. Her involvement and support has made such an amazing difference to our event going global, meaning many $1000s and potentially 100s of $1000s will be raised for Rotary International's End Polio Now Campaign

Our UK ambassador 6 time Paralympic medallist and 5 time world champion Fran Williamson continues to be utterly committed to our event and we are extremely honoured to have her attending our Grantham event in February as special guest. She's even coming out of retirement to take part . Here's her very special message she recorded for us

All in all it's set to be an incredible event for such a very important cause -We want as many people as possible to share in it, so please keep spreading the word.

Contact us any time on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/rotaryglobalswimarathon or twitter at http://www.twitter.com/rotaryglobeswim or most importantly to register to take part please go to http://www.rotaryglobalswimarathon.org/

More tommorow!!

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