49 days to go - 49 clubs registered!

Many thanks to Amir Zonic and the members of the Rotaract Club of Tuzla 99 who've once again signed up to Rotary Global Swimarathon in 2013 becoming our 49th club and 15th country represented.

A reminder again with 2 days of voting remaining please do vote for Moin Junnedi our event ambassador in India who has been nominated by his home town of Belgaum for citizen of the year - here's the voting link http://allaboutbelgaum.com/news/vote-for-your-belgaumite-of-the-year-2012/

So as we close in on getting more than 50 clubs registered, just wanted to take a moment to look at all the new clubs who've joined us this year

1. Rotary Club of Sharon PA D7280, USA
2. Rotary Club of Eadaoin Waller D6910, USA
3. Rotary Club of Blaby Meridien D1070, England
4. Rotary Club of Ramgarh D3250, India
5. Rotary Club of Hamilton D9600, Australia
6. Rotaract Club of Cairo Sunrise D2450, Egypt
7. Rotary Club of South Queensferry D1020, Scotland
8. Rotary Club of Leigh , D1280, England
9. Rotary Club of Papamoa , D9930, New Zealand
10. Rotary Club of Murwillumbah Central D9640, Australia
11. Rotary Club of Los Olivos D5240, USA
12. Rotary Club of Swindon North, D1100, UK
13. Rotaract Club of Oberberg, D1810, Germany
14. Rotary Club of Salem Metropolois D2980, India
15. Rotary Club of Vectis Sunrise D1110, England
16. Rotary Club of Saranac Lake , D7040, USA

Just brilliant that around one third of all the clubs entered this year are new to the event, really shows how the word is spreading. We want it to continue to spread well beyond the limits of the english language.

That's why our website http://www.rotaryglobalswimarathon.org has the capability to translate all its contents into 40 different languages - here's the video that explains how




Please, please help us by sharing this article with the clubs around the world you are connected with - with no language barriers, and the ability to stage the event at any time that suits your club on 23 February 2013, and the way you want to stage it - whether its 1 swimmer or 1000, lets all work together to make this a truly memorable shared global event that the world will take note of!

50 days to go - the District Challenge!

Hopefully most Rotary Clubs around the world are back in the swing of things after the holiday period and ready to get stuck into their projects. Yesterday I had the privilege of spreading the social media and Global Swimarathon message via an international webinar presentation using goto meeting to the Rotary Club of Omaha in Nebraska , just shows the amazing possibilities of linking up around the globe. Will be looking to get participating clubs together around the world nearer the time - watch this space!

Here's how I got on...




So really there's no better time to sign up to the world's biggest swim4peace with 50 days to go. Here's a quick update on the 14 countries and the number of clubs in them officially registered to take part.

1. England 14
2. USA 7
3.India 6
4. Australia 6
5.South Africa 4
6. Scotland 2
7.Ireland 2
8. New Zealand 2
9 = Wales, Germany, Spain, Egypt, Pakistan, Mexico 1

Please help your country move up the list -we are considering bringing back the same hour world record in 2014 and we may decide to offer the option to choose the time of day to the country which has the most clubs taking part!

Remember also that this year we have introduced a number of awards to be presented at the Rotary International Convention in Lisbon. There's an award for the club that raises the most money for End Polio Now, an award for the event with the most swimmers taking part and also there is an award for the District which has the most clubs taking part. So here's a look at the District "Chart" at the moment - all in all there are 32 Districts Represented which is fantastic out of a total of 48 entries. So there's plenty of opportunity to get more clubs interested in your district and get out in front!

1 = District 1070 9320, 9550 4 clubs
4 = District 3170, 7040 3 clubs
6 = District 1110 1160, 1280, 9930 2 clubs
10 = District 1010,1020,1030,1040,1100,1130,1180,1220,1810,2203,2450 ,2980,3140,3250,3272, 4160,5240,5340,6910,7280,9465,9600,9640 1 club


You can change the situation in an instant - just watch this video and register - takes minutes!

51 days to go -the global challenge!

First of all, a big welcome to our 2 new registrations received already in 2013. A brand new entrant is the Rotary Club of Vectis Sunrise in the Isle of Wight, many thanks to Adrian Brewer for completing the sign up, and completing the double of Isle of Wight and Isle of Man both being represented!! Many thanks to Betty McNerlin President of the Rotary Club of Limavady in Northern Ireland, for entering again and completing the set of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales all being represented in Rotary in Britain and Ireland

As ever though, the real magic comes with the genuinely global nature of our event and the ever expanding list of countries which are joining us.

These are the 23 countries (plus Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland - under United Kingdom and Tenerife under Spain) that took part in 2012 or are taking part in 2013. For those of you who aren't flag experts , pictured are

Australia, Argentina, Botswana, Bosnia Herzegovina Canada,China,Croatia,Egypt,France,Germany,India,Ireland,Kenya,Mexico,Moldova,
New Zealand, Pakistan,Phillipines,Romania,South Africa,Spain,UK and the USA

(One of the advantages of getting board games at Xmas and more particularly the flags of the world game!!)

It will be wonderful to see this picture of the flags grow over the next few weeks. Its great that out of the 47 clubs registered to date, they are from 33 different districts around the world which shows the potential for the event to keep growing and growing.

We want to cover every spare inch of this world map of interested and participating clubs!


View Rotary Global Swimarathon 2013 in a larger map

Please vote for RGS hero Moin Junnedi

For me, out of all the thousands of swimming stories, pictures, videos, articles that contributed to the extraordinary 2012 world record , this 1 minute of footage from the 2012 event truly represents the pure inspiration of that unforgettable day.



The video features 14 year old Moin Junnedi, who has lived his entire life with severe osteoporosis (brittle bones disease) and suffered over 200 fractures.

Moin is the youngest swimmer in India to take part in the National Paralympics and has also been recognised by the India Book of Records

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/chen-sports/more-than-merely-olympics/article4175437.ece

http://www.indiabookofrecords.in/featured/youngest-swimmer-with-locomotive-disability

Moin swam at the Rotary Club of Belgaum event in India, which was also the largest event in terms of participation with 354 swimmers recorded for the world record. Just days before doctors advised Moin not to take part as he had suffered 4 fractures but Moin was so determined to swim.

The sheer human spirit and will of this young man is truly humbling. A few days ago I learned that Moin had been nominated by his home city of Belgaum as their citizen of the year To all our Rotary family and friends around the world, please would you spare a moment to vote for this extraordinary young man - I know it would mean the world to him.

I've put together this video which we'll try to share around all the social media channels

Thank you very much!

Happy New Year - please join the world's biggest swim!

Wishing you all a very Happy, Healthy and Peaceful New Year - welcome to 2013.

And welcome to global sign up January! There are just over 52 days to go until the 2nd annual Rotary Global Swimarathon takes on the 23 February 2013 - Rotary day

Of course we are delighted to have nearly 50 website registered club entries already, way up on this time last year, but right now we are poised to take the event to a completely new level.

Today we are reaching out to all of the countries, to all of the clubs, to all of the districts around the world who have yet to be inviovled, and asking this one simple question.

Do you know ANYONE who can swim at least 100 metres at any time during the day on 23 February 2013?

If the answer is yes, taking part could be as easy as this.

Step 1: Watch this 3 minute video then register a user ID and your club (rotary , rotaract or sporting group on our website.


Step 2: Get together sponsors to support End Polio Now and other local charities

Step 3: Book a lane at the local pool, or even just head for the local beach on the day and take part

When you register your club with a contact email address we'll send you regular updates and simply ask that you let us know how much was raised at your event, how many people took part and the distances swum, along with maybe a pic or two or even a video. All fundraising is collected and distributed through local channels.

So how does that sound on your New Years Resolution list. Of course with so many clubs returning after the World Record Breaking swim of 2012 there will be many big events being staged throughout those magical 24 hours, so even if its only a few people swimming together, just imagine how it will all add together.

Rotary are in over 200 countries, and we want as many as possible to be represented. Its not every day you get the chance to represent your country in an event of this scale.


View Rotary Global Swimarathon 2013 in a larger map

Please also take note of the events taking place already in your area or region - why not partner up with other rotary clubs who have organized an event - even if you are not the main organizer of the event, if you are a member of a club not yet on the list - then please spare a couple of minutes to register

http://goo.gl/maps/C40G5

Finally, don't let language be a barrier to taking part - as per this video the website now has a built in translation feature into 40 different languages

Look out for a blog entry for every single day as we count down to the big day. Together we can make this the biggest and most inclusive annual fundraising swimming event in the world. Your support will make that difference - thankyou!

Sharing Global Swim message with the whole world!

Hi everyone,
Well 2 and a half months to go now and momentum is building up very well for the 23 Feb 2013 event. Nearly 50 clubs signed up already, and many more about to confirm.

Here's a couple of videos I'd like to share with you. One is a video presentation on how social media can help your club, featuring Rotary Global Swimarathon story at its heart



And secondly , and this is just brilliant news from the point of view of reaching every corner of the globe , our website http:/www.rotaryglobalswimarathon.org now has the facility to translate all of the content into more than 40 different languages -here's the 2 minute video guide



Finally we want more clubs to sign up, remember it doesn't even have to be an organized event , could just be a few Rotarians and friends taking part in a public pool for a few sponsored laps on the day - so please watch this video on how to register and be part of this incredible global swim4peace. You'll get a welcome email within 24 hours with all the details. There is no official World Record Paperwork to worry about this time, all you have to do is email us the details of how many took part in your event and how much was raised - simple!

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!!