Great Swim Series
Event information
We're thrilled to be the official charity partner of the Great Swim Series 2021!
The Great Swim Series has provided thousands of swimmers with exhilarating safe open water swimming events for over 10 years.
Returning this June to Windermere in the Lake District and Alton Water in Suffolk, both locations offer a range of distances – from the family-friendly 250m, right through to the Olympic-level 10k – so there really is an event for everyone!
Choose your event:
Both locations also offer a combined SwimRun – an opportunity to ditch the roads and pool as you navigate a course that takes in both land and water, either solo or in teams of two. More information coming soon.
Registration fees and minimum sponsorship
The registration fee and minimum sponsorship depends on the length of the event you choose, and is the same across both locations:
- 250m - registration: £10, minimum sponsorship: £75
- ½ mile - registration: £20, minimum sponsorship: £120
- 1 mile - registration: £25, minimum sponsorship: £175
- 2 miles - registration: £30, minimum sponsorship: £250
- 5k - registration: £35, minimum sponsorship: £325
- 10k - registration: £40, minimum sponsorship: £450
The registration deadline for all events is 31 May.
How we'll help
To help support all our swimmers in the lead up to race day we’ve teamed up with training company RunningWithUs to provide you with a special training package. As a member of our team you’ll receive:
- Training and physio guidance from expert coaches
- Email helpline – ask a coach or physio your training, race, nutrition or injury questions
- Twitter and Facebook ask-the-coach services and webinar sessions
We also provide a fundraising pack to help you meet your targets, fundraising and event resources like balloons, collecting tins and banners (upon request) and regular newsletters with support and advice from our dedicated WaterAid events team.
If you have a question or would like to chat about joining Team WaterAid please get in touch.
FAQs
Congrats on securing your own place – we'd love to have you on board!
To join Team WaterAid you can either pop us an email at [email protected] to let us know you’d like to join our team, or you can set up an online fundraising page on JustGiving, using one of the links provided above. They'll tell us you’re fundraising for WaterAid and we’ll get in touch to say thank you and send you a fundraising pack.
We're really sorry to hear that – please contact our events team at [email protected] to let us know you won’t be taking part.
If you’ve bought a WaterAid charity place in an event, we'll ask you to reach a minimum fundraising target. This will cover the cost of the event place and administration fees that WaterAid have to pay, and help provide much needed support to some of the world’s poorest communities.
If you're concerned you won’t reach your fundraising target, please get in touch with us as soon as possible. We're on hand to help you out with tips and ideas that will help you reach your target and we may be able to extend your deadline, so that you have that little bit longer to fundraise.
Join our Strava Swimmers Club to meet fellow Swim Marathon participants. We also have a WaterAid Events Facebook group.
Our friends over at Swim Outdoors have loads of useful tips and advice on swimming outdoors, such as finding suitable swimming spots, and how to keep safe when swimming outdoors.
You’ve come to the right place! Check out some great fundraising ideas and inspirational stories.
Once you’ve registered for an event, we’ll also send you a fundraising guide as part of your welcome pack. This has lots of great fundraising tips to get you off to a flying start.
If you've raised money on JustGiving or VirginMoneyGiving, your job is done! All the online donations made to your fundraising page are automatically transferred over to WaterAid and allocated to your total.
If you've raised money offline, you can pay your money in online, or send in your fundraising by making a bank transfer, sending us a cheque, or paying in your money over the phone.
Pay in your fundraising online
If you’re making a bank transfer please use the following details:
WaterAid Current Account
Barclays Bank PLC
Sort code: 20-65-82
Account number: 20422746
If you’re sending in a cheque, please make it payable to WaterAid and send it to:
WaterAid
6th floor
20 Canada Square
London
E14 5NN
Please also fill in a donation form with your name and details of your fundraising, and send it in to us. Otherwise we won’t know that the money is from you, and we won’t be able to thank you for your fundraising!
If you want to pay your money in over the phone, give us a call on 020 7793 4594.
Contact us
Have a question about the Great Swim Series event you've signed up to? Contact Bob in our Events team and he’ll be happy to help.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 020 7793 4594
You can also join the WaterAid Events Facebook group to get answers to any questions you may have.
