Swimathon has appointed Rocket Sports as its exclusive long-term sponsorship agency. The annual fundraising swimming challenge has been going for 33 years and hosted more than 750,000 participants during that time, it now has bold plans for the future.
Having raised more than £50 million for national charities to date, Swimathon is considered to be the largest swimming fundraising event in the world. The Swimathon Foundation’s grant-giving scheme also gifts £150,000 back to the swimming community every year.
The event’s current charity partners Marie Curie and Cancer Research UK are currently the largest benefactors from the event.
Swimathon is a celebration of swimming and has four core components, making it accessible and challenging for everyone from first-time beginners through to seasoned professionals:
- Swimathon Weekend
The flagship campaign is held over a weekend, usually in March (although the 2020 edition will take place in October 2020). 20,000 participants enter as individuals or as part of a team at over 600 pools up and down the UK. Distances range from; 400m, 1500m, 2500m, 5000m, or the mammoth triple 5k.
- School Swimathon
School Swimathon promotes swimming as a life skill to Key Stage 2 pupils, using schools’ national curriculum swimming lessons to improve technique and confidence in the water. During the last lesson of term pupils challenge themselves to swim further than they have swum before, in the School Swimathon Challenge. 400 English schools take part each year, with more than 40,000 children having participated since 2013. - Open Water Swimathon
There are now more than 1,500 participants in this increasingly popular fundraising event which is held every September at 25 stunning open water venues nationwide. With a range of distances available (from 500m to 5k) participants can take in the distance challenges individually or in a team. - Marathon Swims
The ultimate sell-out annual swimming challenge. The 10k marathon swim can be tackled by individuals or teams at the iconic London 2012 Olympic Aquatics Centre. With an added twist of a time limit as the day draws on the heats get faster; turning a marathon into a race against the clock!
These four initiatives take place throughout the year, each supported by a marketing campaign run across the swimming industry and online.
Rocket Sports will be reviewing the sponsorship proposition and working with brands to form partnerships that continue to facilitate and expand Swimathon’s founding aim of helping anyone, whatever their ability, get into swimming while raising millions of pounds for great causes.
Please contact Marc Hope, Director of Rights Marketing, at Rocket Sports for any further information about Swimathon: marc@rocketentertainment.com or 07799 662187