THE hard work of swimmers during the gruelling Swan Hill 24-Hour Swimathon has paid off with $10,078 raised for Chances For Children.
Starting from 4pm on Friday at the Swan Hill Outdoor Pool, approximately 130 entrants, including 10 participating in Bendigo, took turns in the water.
The goal was for teams to remain in the pool at all times, similar to the principal of Relay for Life.
The Nyah Two Bays Swan Hill Swimming Club and Swan Hill Swimming Masters successfully reached the 24-hour mark, with approximately 30 and 20 members respectively.
Organiser Arlie Atkinson said even a little rain on Friday night didn’t stop the participants as more than 25 people camped overnight.
“I’ve been blown away by the amount of support I received in terms of entries, the number of donations and the sponsors,” Atkinson said.
“I was originally only aiming for $3000, so the money raised shows how generous our community is and I’d like to thank everyone for the support.”
Atkinson said there were some great individual performances with Damian Howison clocking 10km, including stints overnight.
The Central Mallee Osteopathy team swam for 12 hours, while Mayor Bill Moar and Robinvale councillor Jade Benham raced a lap of the pool.
Benham also swam 5.8km over a 2.5 hour period.
Moar said it was great to see such support for a cause like Chances for Children.
“Chances For Children does a great job raising funds for underprivileged children,” Moar said.
“I personally have supported it for 15 years through numerous events and it’s great to see another one.
“It’s a big challenge to have swimmers in the water for 24 hours, especially during all hours of the night, and a great congratulations to them all.”
Chances For Children representative and Mallee Family Care Swan Hill manager George Mudford thanked everyone who put the event together.
“Chances for Children has been in Swan Hill for nearly 20 years and we have supported nearly 200 people in the town to pursue their dreams,” Mudford said.
“A lot of people working in this town — from lawyers to allied health professionals — have been supported by Chances and they’re putting that contribution back into their communities.”
Atkinson said the event would not have been possible without the support of Youth Inc behind the scenes.
Swan Hill Rural City Council’s youth support coordinator Kane Sparks said it’s a pleasure to partner with amazing youth most weeks to bring their dreams and aspirations into fruition.
“When Arlie came to us, we knew a 24-hour swim was a big commitment,” Sparks said.
“After we called other local governments and agencies who had attempted it for advice, a lot had cut theirs back to 12 hours.
“So I take my hat off to everyone involved in this because it’s not done a lot and it’s an achievement in itself.”
Atkinson is set to go to Bendigo to begin her study of physiotherapy, but is hoping to continue the event into the future.
