Against the clock
Swimmers powered through the water to turn lengths of the pool into pounds for charity.
Maidstone Riverside Rotary Club hosted its second annual charity SwimRelay at the town’s leisure centre in Mote Avenue on Sunday.
Almost 200 people formed into 36 teams of between four and six swimmers. Their task: to complete as many lengths as they could in 30 minutes.
The fundraiser was open to groups of any ability or age with participants coming from schools and social clubs.
Last year, the Sutton Valence School Sharks team set the bar completing 98 lengths in the halfhour time limit.
This year they returned with a different group and smashed that record with 108.
Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant and her family notched up 63 lengths.
But it wasn’t all about speed and power.
One disabled swimmer with limited movement who only learnt to swim last month, managed six lengths.
Sponsorship is still being collected, but is expected to beat the £7,500 secured in 2015.
Half will be donated to Children in Need, with the other 50% going to nominated charities.
Clive Bradburn, event organiser, said: “We are so pleased with the fantastic response from the teams, both in the fundraising and their participation.
“What was pleasing was the diversity of swimmers. From those with a disability, to families and, of course, the schools, whose young people’s competitiveness was infectious – electrifying the atmosphere among spectators and swimmers alike.”