Philip tells the story
I had been developing my own swimming in my local club – doing longer and longer swims until I was able to swim about 4.5k. From this came the idea of organising a group swim for charity.
I decided that a 2k swim would be within most people’s capabilities. It would take 2-3 hours to complete and would involve a few months’ training. I sent messages to friends about my plans, stressing it wasn’t a competitive event. Feedback was excellent and within few days the bulk of the team was in place.
I then researched venues. The best facility I found for the event was not free – I really wanted to ensure that 100% of the funds raised would go to charity – so we decided to charge a modest entrance fee to cover about half of the cost of hiring the lanes, and my wife and I paid for the rest.
We selected Children with Cancer UK as our charity knowing that it would appeal to a wide range of people.
