Registrations open for 12-hour MS Swimathon

MS QUEENSLAND’S MS Swimathon is back in Toowoomba this year, and MS Queensland is promising it will be the best pool party you’ve been to. Registration is now open. The swimathon promises to be a day of fun in the sun while raising money for locals living with multiple sclerosis.

It involves teams of swimmers, sponsored by friends, family and work colleagues, swimming in a 12-hour relay to raise vital funds for local services.

Jazmine Rule is swimming in memory of her mum, who passed away as a result of MS when Jazmine was just a toddler.

“Mum was diagnosed with MS a few years before she passed away at the age of 24,” she said. I was only threeyears-old so I don’t remember much about the whole situation other than my family having to be beside my mum helping her to shower and eat and general moving around.

“I do remember her like it was yesterday, she was so strong like you wouldn’t believe. She was being the best mum she could be to myself and my two brothers even though she was in pain.”

The event will help MS Queensland provide vital services to people living with MS and other neurological conditions such as physiotherapy, exercise therapy, counselling, service coordination, phone line and nursing support.

Ms Rule urged all Toowoomba locals to jump in.

“You don’t have to be a great swimmer. I did the swim when I was eight months pregnant with my little boy Leo,” she said.

Although a 12-hour relay may sound intimidating, the MS Swimathon really is about having fun with your friends. It is a massive pool party, with games, competitions, music, and colourful costumes.

It is on Saturday, November 16, from 6am, at the Highfields Fitness and Recreation Centre. People of all abilities can participate and swim in any style, whether it is one or 100 laps in freestyle, breaststroke or doggy paddle. To register visit msswimathon.com.au.