Swimarathon returns

Friday 04 October 2019

The 2019 Skipton Swimarathon has already seen hundreds of swimmers take part, with hundreds more due to dive in over the coming days.

The annual fundraiser is this time collecting money for the Cardiac Action Group, which aims to improve heart health and also help those who suffer cardiac arrests through the purchase of more public access defibrillators.

The community event actually got started on Monday, with students at Elizabeth College the first to swim in the 'At Large' category of the fundraiser. 

Boys from the school have been swimming in their own pool each day this week during their lunch break in exchange for sponsorship and donations from relatives and friends.

Students at the High Schools have also been swimming with children at Les Beaucamps taking part yesterday and those at St Sampson's and Le Murier swimming today.

The main event at Beau Sejour got started on Wednesday night, as the 'official start of the swimarathon', with the Bailiff sounding the horn and watching the first few teams take part. 

Staff from Skipton International, the swimarathon's sponsors, were due to swim on Thursday night - helping to raise as much money as they can for the event during the 10th year of Skipton’s sponsorship.

Today, the Lieutenant Governor and his wife will be at the 11:00 session of the Skipton Swimarathon, supporting the swimmers and the organisers. Those swimming at the time Sir Ian and Lady Corder are due to attend include pupils from St.Mary & St. Michael and Amherst schools along with members of the Beau Sejour Swim School.

Before they dive in, the Beau Sejour Lifeguards will be swimming in the 10:00-11:00 session, making sure they are warmed up for a day watching over the other entrants.

Swimming continues all day today, with a number of other schools taking part and various adult teams then joining in from late afternoon.

Over the weekend, there will be swimming all day on Saturday 5 October, with the Cardiac Action Group's Mike Froome taking part himself to raise money for the charity which he supports.

Mr Froome has been instrumental in the campaign to get public access defibrillators installed in easily accessible places across the island. He also gives training sessions and talks to encourage their use.

Other members of, and supporters of, the Cardiac Action Group will be swimming on Saturday, along with other charities including Grow Ltd and the Guernsey Disability Swimming School.

The Cardiac Action Group will be back in the water on Sunday morning, this time represented by Rick Denton, who was famously saved by one of the island's public access defibrillators after he went into Cardiac Arrest while having lunch at Les Cotils earlier this year.

Pictured: Rick Denton went back to Les Cotils after he had recovered from his Cardiac Arrest to thank those who had saved his life and to raise awareness of the use of public access defibrillators. 

Mr Denton now works with the Cardiac Action Group to raise awareness of the use of defibrillators.

Other groups swimming on Sunday, as the Skipton Swimarathon comes to a close for another year, will include teams from the Lions Club and Guernsey Round Table.

Pictured: The Bailiff, Sir Richard Collas, opening the Skipton Swimarathon officially on Wednesday night. Image from the Skipton Swimarathon Facebook page.