Marie Curie Swimathon at Purley Pool (From Croydon Guardian)

Marie Curie Swimathon at Purley Pool

5:30pm Tuesday 20th April 2010 in Your Neighbourhood

By Community Correspondent Rachel Bowen. On Friday 16th April, the swimathon for Marie Curie Cancer Care took place all over the country – including at Purley Pool. The swimathon is the largest event of its kind in the world, with over 20,000 swimmers in over 500 pools around the country taking part and swimming between 1 and 5km to raise money for the charity. Marie Curie provide nurses for those who are terminally ill with cancer, allowing them to remain at home and providing those who care for them with a well-earned break – so there was a fantastic atmosphere of working hard for a good cause, and knowing that every length counted!

I chose to swim 2.5km, or 100 lengths, which seemed more than enough as I hadn’t been swimming in over a year! However, after signing up, I got back into training, swimming every week – and on the day, I finished the 100 lengths in just under an hour, which had been my aim all along, which I was delighted with. There was a fantastic atmosphere in the pool on the day, with several teams choosing to swim in multicoloured shorts and t shirts, or coming in team outfits of fluorescent legwarmers.

Overall, the swimathon was a great experience – not only was it a fantastic way of raising money for a good cause, but everyone got a medal at the end – my first ever medal!