VIDEO: Sport Relief at Wadurs pool

More than 30 swimmers, from children up to the age of pensioners, took to the water at Impulse Leisure’s Wadurs swimming pool in Kingston Broadway to swim up to five kilometres for charity.

For many, that meant hours of swimming, with cramp and chafing among the main problems swimmers had to deal with.

Roughly double last year’s number of entrants took part in the swim, which allowed participants to swim as little as 1.5 kilometres in a relay made up of up to four people.

But it was not just the swimmers and the organisers who were taking part in the swimathon – it was also the job of a dedicated group of volunteers to count how many laps were being completed.

And with the pool being just 25 metres long, that meant plenty of adding up for those sitting on the sidelines.

Jason McIntosh, a lifeguard and this year’s organiser, said the event had attracted more people than the pool’s staff had expected.

He said: “We’ve had more people taking part this year, and have also been helped by volunteers who are counting the number of laps the swimmers do.

“People can swim up to five kilometres or do as little as 1.5 kilometres. But for swimmers who don’t think they can do that much they can divvy that up in a relay between three or four people.”

Last year, more than £2,000 was raised from the event and Wadurs was hopeful even more would be raised this time.

See Thursday’s Herald for a full report on Sport Relief across the area