Meet our swimathon 2023 ambassadors
Our Swimathon ambassadors are our super-fans, they love taking part in Swimathon and we’re so grateful to them for being our ambassadors and spreading the word about Swimathon far and wide!
We thought you’d like to meet them…
Swimming teacher and Welfare Officer, Wanda
Swimathon 2023 is the 7th year I have taken part in Swimathon, and 5th year as a Swimathon Ambassador, something which I am very proud of. This year I am undertaking the 30.9km challenge, as well as an individual 5km challenge.
Each year I take part in Swimathon in memory of my both my grandads who passed away as a result of cancer, in particular my grandad Cliff, whom himself was a swimmer in his younger years. I remember frequently asking my grandad to teach me to swim. I often wonder what he would have thought of my own swimming journey, I know, without any shadow of doubt, he would have been very proud!
In 2012, I was diagnosed with a long term back problem and was told that I needed to do two things…use a walking stick and take up swimming. As a result, I have met some amazing people and made many friends along the journey. When you become a swimmer, you really become part of a community.
One of the many things I love about taking part in Swimathon, is the way it brings together swimmers to support and encourage each other. This year I am taking on my biggest challenge yet and will need all the support I can get!
I decided I wanted to share my passion for swimming and help people learn to swim. In January last year, I passed my level swim teaching assistant qualification and passed my level 2 in April.
Rob Flood, 42, husband, father of three and all round swimming enthusiast
I have been swimming for several years now and I swim a lot as it helps with my mental health. I’ve suffered from depression and anxiety since my late teens and I’m now 42. I’ve learnt that swimming gives me the chance to reset my mind and stops me worrying about the day to day troubles that I struggle with.
I’ve been taking part in Swimathon for 7 years now, completing several triple 5k and last year the 30.9 challenge. My then 9 year old son Caleb also competed the 2.5k swim last year and this year my 7 year old twin girls Grace and Isobel hope to complete a distance (to be decided).
Cancer has played a big part in my life, especially in recent years. After loosing my mum’s sister, Angela, and also my grandfather, I knew I had to do something. This has been my motivation to compete in Swimathon. To raise money for both Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie UK, while also improving my own mental wellbeing, is truly something special to be apart of.
I want to spread my story to raise awareness of the amazing work both charity partners do and also to get more joining in this brilliant event.
Laura Jane, a 34 year swimming teacher from the sunny South coast
I’m a single parent to two gorgeous boys, they are my absolute world, and they too are well on their way to developing their fins and gills! When I’m not in the pool you’ll most likely find me in my kitchen covered head to toe with the contents of my baking cupboard, it’s usually a chocolatey concoction!
My adventure began about 8 years ago when I made the decision to teach myself how to swim, my style could once be described as ‘drowning with style’, it certainly had the lifeguards hanging off the edge of their seats! I used to watch swimmers in the lanes in absolute awe, I wanted to be one of them, and that’s where my journey began.
Along the way I clocked up miles and miles raising hundreds of pounds for various charities. Swimathon plays a huge role in my life, I was lucky enough to be invited to an ambassador day in London a few years ago and haven’t looked back. During this time, I had the pleasure of racing against Duncan Goodhew; Yes, it may have been for fun…but I still won!
Swimming has opened a whole new chapter; one that has transformed my life. Training to become a teacher was the perfect opportunity to give back to the sport which has given so much to me.
I’m a single parent to two gorgeous boys, they are my absolute world, and they too are well on their way to developing their fins and gills! When I’m not in the pool you’ll most likely find me in my kitchen covered head to toe with the contents of my baking cupboard, it’s usually a chocolatey concoction!
Naomi from Essex, and why she’d recommend open swimming to anyone and everyone!
I'm Naomi, I'm a 41 Yr old married mum of two boys and have a very stressful job.
I was brought up by the seaside in Essex so a love of water developed at a young age but strangely I've mainly been a pool swimmer up until 4 yrs ago when I decided to embrace the open water.
Swimming is my mental health saviour and has been absolutely vital to staying sane throughout the last few crazy years. My love of water has increased tenfold since braving open water, being outside, immersed in nature is amazing. For me it has a magical reset button for an anxious mind and seems to wash away all my worries. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone!
Swimathon is a charity that is dear to me as I know and have known family, colleagues and friends who have suffered or lost their fight and raising money to fund Cancer Research and providing support to those who are going through treatment means the world to me. I have completed several challenges over the years, Triple5k and the 30.9km challenges being the biggest!
Come on everyone help kick Cancer's butt and help Swimathon raise funds for a great cause!
Louise West from Derby and her Swimathon experience….
I’ve done 4 swimathons, 2023 will be my 5th and second as an ambassador.
The first year, I swam the 5k on the day the pools closed for lockdown, 20.3.20 and swam it in 2hours 03 mins, quite a coincidence with time and date!
I loved it and finished feeling fantastic, despite not knowing when we would be able to swim again. Later that year when pools reopened I swam 20k in a month to raise further badly needs funds for the charities.
In 2021, I decided to do the 5k again but to beat my time – and I did in 1 hour 54 mins .
2022 saw me take on the 30.9k challenge as my first year as an ambassador and had great encouragement from Duncan Goodhew and Mark Foster when we met at the ambassadors day. The first day’s swim saw me improve my 5k time again – 1 hour 52 mins. I loved doing the longer distance and felt comfortable throughout, with only one day when I did a 7k, that I felt like I had swum nearly to my limit in distance.
The next swim this year will be the triple 5 k, and again I am training in the hope of improving my time again… (thinking of doing a much bigger one next year..)
To anyone who isn’s sure about signing up for Swimathon I say do it! Swimathon is doing good whilst feeling good!
Why Louise loves Swimathon so much
I love doing the Swimathons, it gives me focus for training and feeds my motivation to continually keep going to improve. I also love raising funds for the charities as they are both close to my heart, having lost several friends to various cancers. While swimming I think of them and the good times we have had.
I started doing the swimathons as a focus to keep me motivated in my fitness journey, but it very quickly became fun to do and I enjoy the training as much as the actual swims. Doing the swimathons each time as ‘MySwimathon’ I have also challenged my personal trainer and swim coach to get involved, and both have supported me in doing swims with me. I love being an ambassador as well and meeting up with the others. Especially getting encouragement from Duncan, who was my childhood hero, as I was competing at the same time as him, but not in the same league!!
My fitness journey started 6 and a half years ago, when I was invited to do some teaching in the French Alps and was told I would need to be altitude fit. I had been a competitive swimmer nearly 40 years earlier but hadn’t really done any formal exercise or training for many years. I joined a local gym with a pool, and it all started from there. Initially I could only swim 20 lengths, but it quickly became much longer distances as the confidence and stamina grew.
My business is in the heritage craft of bobbin lacemaking, and as part of that, I design and sell patterns, and currently have 5 different ones available, all sales donate an amount to the fundraiser each year. You can find out more about them on Louise’s social channels: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Daniel from Hertfordshire and how he got into swimming….
My name is Daniel, i’m a 36 year old civil engineer currently living in Hertfordshire and swimming is a massive part of my life.
Like most people I started swimming when i was very young with lessons at school, as well as ones in the evening. Never being fast enough to join a competitive club, but still loving being in the pool, i started playing water polo in my teens for my local team - Warley Wasps - winning more than my fair share of medals as goalkeeper.
Aside from a spell as a lifeguard, since stopping playing water polo, swimming has been something that i have done mainly for enjoyment as well as physical fitness and my mental health. For a long long time it has always been a wonderful way for me to escape from the stresses of work, life and the world. Focusing on my stroke, indulging in comedy podcasts or just counting laps is a brilliant distraction and however tired you may be, you always end up feeling better when you get out of the pool.
Daniel’s Swimathon challenges
I think I first did swimathon in the late 90s after my sister encouraged me to do it (kindly volunteering to be my lap counter), and have done it pretty consistently ever since (including attempting the open water swimathon several times!). In recent years i’ve been setting myself increasingly long and harder challenges to keep it fun and fresh. This year i’ll be doing the Triple 5km challenge for (I think) the fourth successive year, and the 30.0km challenge for the third consecutive year. I wouldn’t pretend they aren’t a massive (and sometimes daunting) challenge but it’s nice to have something to aim for, something to motivate you when the weather is dark and miserable and ultimately something that gives you a real sense of achievement - you have completed a genuinely hard challenge and done an awful lot of good in the process.
I have had so many wonderful moments being part of Swimathon - being coached my Olympians and making wonderful friends as an ambassador; swimming in the London 2012 Olympic pool; and encouraging friends to also take part have been real highlights. In 2022 whilst doing my swim at Harrow and Wealdstone Leisure Centre i even met a swimmer who had taken part every year since the very first Swimathon - such commitment and generosity really inspired me!
In my spare time i can often be found playing badminton, playing with lego or in the kitchen - me and my partner are attempting to cook a dish from a different country each week until we’ve done the whole planet - clearly it’s not just in the pool i like to set myself challenges!
We hope our ambassadors have inspired you to find out more and maybe sign up for Swimathon 2023