Eastbourne swimmers invited to make a splash for charity
Eastbourne swimmers are being encouraged to dive in and take part in the world’s biggest annual fundraising swim, Swimathon 2026, at The Sovereign Centre this weekend.
Now in its 40th year, the event takes place on 20-22 March, raising funds for Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie and the Swimathon Foundation. GLL will be hosting more than 1,200 challenges in 87 pools nationwide.
Individuals can choose to swim a variety of distances – 500m, 1.5k, 2.5k, Swimathon 5k and Triple 5k distances – with teams choosing 1.5k, 2.5k and 5k challenges.
Phil Dench, General Manager at The Sovereign Centre, says: “We’re excited to welcome swimmers of all ages to The Sovereign Centre for Swimathon 2026. It’s a fantastic way for the local community to get active, have fun and support worthy charities.”
GLL’s head of sport and aquatics Andrew Clark said: “The best of luck to all our charity fundraisers in Swimathon’s 40th year. With over 1200 taking part, Swimathon 2026 could be the biggest challenge of its kind we’ve hosted in GLL pools.
“The world’s largest charitable funder of cancer research, Cancer Research UK, and the UK’s leading end of life charity, Marie Curie, as well as Swimathon Foundation will directly benefit from our fundraisers’ efforts. It promises to bring many people back to the pool and rediscover their love of swimming.”