The Central London Humanist Group is extremely pleased to announce its successful participation in this year's 5km Swimathon, raising over £700 for charity.

The Humanist swimming team, made up of Phuong Quan, Deborah Hyde, Tyrone Curtis, Olcay Aniker-Lumley & Stuart McCaighy, braved a gloomy morning in London on the morning of the 18th April 2009, in order to attend the Ironmonger Row swimming-pool near Old Street to try their had at a full 5km Distance Swimathon.

"I only learnt to swim 2 years ago," admitted team captain Phuong Quan, "so this was really quite a big challenge for me. When I started training I couldn't do 50 metres (2-3 lengths) without getting majorly out of breath, but with a bit of pushing from my trainer (a.k.a. boyfriend), I was able to extend this to a full kilometre in just a few months.  I feel proud to have achieved this, particularly as it was for a good cause too."

While the entire pool was dedicated to the Swimathon there were many other teams and individual swimmers taking part. At the same time additional motivation was on hand in the form of cups of tea and lots of cheesy pop music such as ‘Eye of the Tiger’, ‘Don’t stop me now’ and ‘Reach for the Stars’ by S Club 7.

Amid all this activity the team started off at just after 10am and a little over two hours and twenty minutes later they were finished. A whole forty minutes ahead of schedule!

Sponsorship

So far people’s willingness to sponsor the swim team has been amazing and the level of sponsorship from inside and outside the Humanist Community has been far beyond expectations. Initially £500 was the target but we went well past that even before a single lap of the pool was swum. If you would like to make a contribution then the online sponsorship page is still open.  Help us to show that Humanists believe in being ‘good for goodness sake’.

Swimathon

Swimathon is the world's largest fundraising swim.  It has taken place for 23 years and has raised over £32 million for various charities.   Swimathon 2009 took place in over 500 pools across the UK, and thousands of swimmers showed their support for Marie Curie Cancer Care and The Swimathon Foundation by swimming to raise money.