41 days to go. Can't tell you how fantastic it is to hear about all the different local events being planned around the world for Global Swimarathon. Have been doing some quick calculations around how many swimmers we can expect for the record attempt. As I've said before, we're inviting 500 swimmers to our Grantham Meres event. Elsewhere in the UK we've already had a figure of 240 swimmers for the 4 Peterborough clubs and 200 swimmers expected at the Knaresborough event. Add that to a figure of 60 given from the Rotary Club of Sawantwadi last night, just before they celebrated charter night on the very day India was declared Polio free for a full year, and there's 1000 swimmers already.
Now over in District 9550 Australia, the Rotary Club of Townsville , led by President Marcel McCleod are really leading the way. Not only have they brought us legendary open water swimmer marathon superstar Penny Palfrey, they have managed to book up just about every pool in the town. Get this - they are planning to have 1000 swimmers taking part!!
So there you go - 2000 swimmers in just 5 clubs. With Melton Mowbray Rotary confirmation earlier today we already have 47 clubs officially entered. The current record stands at 2533. With an average entry expected of 100 per club I genuinely believe we could be looking at between 10 and 20 thousand swimmers - what an incredible message of unity and determination to End Polio Now!!
It's no longer a question of CAN WE BREAK THE RECORD? its simply a question of BY HOW MUCH!!
With 3 weeks to go to our own Rotary Grantham Swimarathon weekend, last night I headed down for a swimming session. I've set myself a personal goal of raising £2012 , swimming 201.2 lengths over the weekend, doing the 100 metres in Global Swimarathon and finally the Great North Swim Open Water event in Lake Windermere , Cumbria in June. http://www.justgiving.com/PaulWilsonRotary
There I was, last session of the day, in that 25 metre, 8 lane pool, swimming on my own. The thought of this quiet , empty pool, about to be transformed into centre stage for so many thousands of people , raising so many thousands , maybe even hundreds of thousands for such an incredible cause -just takes the breath away
LETS GO FOR IT!!!
Showing posts with label Rotary clubs End Polio Now. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rotary clubs End Polio Now. Show all posts
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Heartfelt Thankyous for everyone that's helped us along the way PART II!
44 days to go. After a frenzy of sign up activity yesterday its calmed down a little which gives me time to continue with my story of the event so far and the huge thank yous that are very much due to some very key people.
Certainly plenty of activity going on though all the same - last night I spoke with our 1070 District Chair about a Peterborough Rotary Global Swimarathon event, and I'm very pleased to share that there are no fewer than 4 separate Rotary clubs there combining together to take part in the event - and none of them are on the official registration radar just yet . Coupled with new interest from Rotaract clubs in Romania, and news of 2 more clubs in District 9550 - Susanne Rea , Ida Portella, Marcel McLeod - you are doing a wonderful job in spreading the word!!, looks like we are more than on track for reaching 50 clubs entered by the end of this week.
As I said though today's post is about sharing some more of this fantastic journey into unchartered Global Rotary territory and acknowledging the amazing contributions of so many people who've helped us along the way.
Back in October, Roger Graves was given a prime speakers slot at our District 1070 conference, just prior to the main speaker the one and only Anne Widdecombe. He did an amazing job in pitching the event, and coupled with stunning video footage provided by Gordon Seabrook who unbelievably does all of our Swimarathon footage at no charge, we soon had a powerful message to share with clubs all around the world.
Here in the UK, there was a lot of RIBI social media activity around the #WorldPolioDay campaign, through working on that, we became in regular contact with District 1140 Governor Mukesh Malotra. His constant campaigning on our behalf and for the End Polio Now campaign made a huge difference in terms of attracting followers and attention. Despite a serious illness set back towards the end of the year from which I'm very pleased to say he is gradually recovering , he is still incredibly supportive to us.
During that twittering #rotaryendpolio campaign, I really enjoyed working with Sarah Bosomworth - another fairly new Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Knaresborough. I was really impressed by her efforts to get our message out there, and she very quickly took on the challenge of pitching the Global Swimarathon to her club. She completely refused to let any setbacks stand in the way and get an event set up and her determination made me have no hesitation in commiting to join her in taking part in the June 2012 Great North open water swim for End Polio Now.
On twitter, we had attempted to get in touch with various swimmers in our search for a UK ambassador. We were extremely delighted to be followed back by Fran Williamson, a recently retired Paralympic and 5 time world champion swimmer. But what really struck us on reading her blog info http://www.fran-williamson.co.uk/ was how committed she was to supporting charities -including support for local Cambridge charities and her role as ambassador for @whizzkidz a brilliant national charity to help kids with mobility issues. Fran was very supportive of our initial enquiry and put us in touch with her agent (and partner) Chris Whitaker. Right from the first conversation with Chris I knew we'd found our ambassador. Both of them were really passionate about what they do, about supporting charities and making a difference. Its been such a pleasure working with them ever since I can't tell you. We met them both in person up at the Disabilty Sports Events England National Swimming short course championships up in Sheffield in November and they were just the nicest, most down-to-earth people you could ever meet.
We had another special trip to Sheffield back in early November. Our Swimarathon Chairman - and I'll get to the thanks for him in another separate blog - he truly deserves it - was nominated for Fundraiser of the year by the National ASA governing body of swimming , and we were guests at the Swimtastic awards 2011.
What an incredible day we had I'll never forget it. Along with all the other award nominees , ordinary every day swimmers of all ages from the length and breadth of the land , we spent an afternoon "swimming with the stars" - including the whole team GB waterpolo ladies olympic squad, Divers, synchronized swimmers , Junior , Olympic and Paralympic swimmers. As a life-long sports fan I was completely star struck - but what was most striking was just how friendly and approachable everyone was. Naturally we brought the Global Swimarathon tshirts along for signatures, but what was great was just how interested everyone was in the event. The Team GB Waterpolo ladies, including ex Grantham player Vickie Bowen, Angie Winstanley Smith and many others all said they'd be up for taking part even though they were likely to be in Australia. We also met Claire Cashmore, a Leeds based swimmer and friend of Fran Williamson, who said her Dad was in Rotary and she'd love to help - she certainly did that - she's now special guest at the Knaresborough event - told you Sarah was good at organizing it!!
Roger actually won the special achievement award in recognition of 22 years raising £500,000 for local causes - just wonderful. Here's the moment captured on my dodgy camera video, introduced by swimming legend Steve Parry http://youtu.be/02t9hjqXqgY
To be continued in Part III coming soon!
Certainly plenty of activity going on though all the same - last night I spoke with our 1070 District Chair about a Peterborough Rotary Global Swimarathon event, and I'm very pleased to share that there are no fewer than 4 separate Rotary clubs there combining together to take part in the event - and none of them are on the official registration radar just yet . Coupled with new interest from Rotaract clubs in Romania, and news of 2 more clubs in District 9550 - Susanne Rea , Ida Portella, Marcel McLeod - you are doing a wonderful job in spreading the word!!, looks like we are more than on track for reaching 50 clubs entered by the end of this week.
As I said though today's post is about sharing some more of this fantastic journey into unchartered Global Rotary territory and acknowledging the amazing contributions of so many people who've helped us along the way.
Back in October, Roger Graves was given a prime speakers slot at our District 1070 conference, just prior to the main speaker the one and only Anne Widdecombe. He did an amazing job in pitching the event, and coupled with stunning video footage provided by Gordon Seabrook who unbelievably does all of our Swimarathon footage at no charge, we soon had a powerful message to share with clubs all around the world.
Here in the UK, there was a lot of RIBI social media activity around the #WorldPolioDay campaign, through working on that, we became in regular contact with District 1140 Governor Mukesh Malotra. His constant campaigning on our behalf and for the End Polio Now campaign made a huge difference in terms of attracting followers and attention. Despite a serious illness set back towards the end of the year from which I'm very pleased to say he is gradually recovering , he is still incredibly supportive to us.
During that twittering #rotaryendpolio campaign, I really enjoyed working with Sarah Bosomworth - another fairly new Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Knaresborough. I was really impressed by her efforts to get our message out there, and she very quickly took on the challenge of pitching the Global Swimarathon to her club. She completely refused to let any setbacks stand in the way and get an event set up and her determination made me have no hesitation in commiting to join her in taking part in the June 2012 Great North open water swim for End Polio Now.
On twitter, we had attempted to get in touch with various swimmers in our search for a UK ambassador. We were extremely delighted to be followed back by Fran Williamson, a recently retired Paralympic and 5 time world champion swimmer. But what really struck us on reading her blog info http://www.fran-williamson.co.uk/ was how committed she was to supporting charities -including support for local Cambridge charities and her role as ambassador for @whizzkidz a brilliant national charity to help kids with mobility issues. Fran was very supportive of our initial enquiry and put us in touch with her agent (and partner) Chris Whitaker. Right from the first conversation with Chris I knew we'd found our ambassador. Both of them were really passionate about what they do, about supporting charities and making a difference. Its been such a pleasure working with them ever since I can't tell you. We met them both in person up at the Disabilty Sports Events England National Swimming short course championships up in Sheffield in November and they were just the nicest, most down-to-earth people you could ever meet.
We had another special trip to Sheffield back in early November. Our Swimarathon Chairman - and I'll get to the thanks for him in another separate blog - he truly deserves it - was nominated for Fundraiser of the year by the National ASA governing body of swimming , and we were guests at the Swimtastic awards 2011.
What an incredible day we had I'll never forget it. Along with all the other award nominees , ordinary every day swimmers of all ages from the length and breadth of the land , we spent an afternoon "swimming with the stars" - including the whole team GB waterpolo ladies olympic squad, Divers, synchronized swimmers , Junior , Olympic and Paralympic swimmers. As a life-long sports fan I was completely star struck - but what was most striking was just how friendly and approachable everyone was. Naturally we brought the Global Swimarathon tshirts along for signatures, but what was great was just how interested everyone was in the event. The Team GB Waterpolo ladies, including ex Grantham player Vickie Bowen, Angie Winstanley Smith and many others all said they'd be up for taking part even though they were likely to be in Australia. We also met Claire Cashmore, a Leeds based swimmer and friend of Fran Williamson, who said her Dad was in Rotary and she'd love to help - she certainly did that - she's now special guest at the Knaresborough event - told you Sarah was good at organizing it!!
Roger actually won the special achievement award in recognition of 22 years raising £500,000 for local causes - just wonderful. Here's the moment captured on my dodgy camera video, introduced by swimming legend Steve Parry http://youtu.be/02t9hjqXqgY
To be continued in Part III coming soon!
Monday, 9 January 2012
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
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
Friday, 6 January 2012
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!!
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!!
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