San Diego 24-Hour Swim Challenge In August

Published August 7, 2014 08:10PM

Want to put that swim fitness to charitable use? Join the Swim 24Challenge, a new event over Labor Day weekend (Aug. 30–31) in San Diego, which will raise money to combat childhood drowning—the second leading cause of death among children.

The team event was created by a group of local San Diego endurance athletes to loosely mimic the popular 24-hour running relays, allowing teams of up to 12 of all ages and levels to compete by swimming for 24 hours straight (divided up as decided per team). Athletes will be provided with round-the-clock poolside entertainment and workshops during the 12pm to 12pm swim session.

Serious teams will look to set a distance record and non-competitive teams will get a unique team bonding experience, all while working toward a common goal. (Want to swim but don’t have a full team? You can join an pre-existing one on the website, Swim24.org.)

Teams are asked to raise $1,200—the average cost to teach a child to swim is $100—and if you raise $5,000, your team will receive VIP swag and treatment, including a poolside RV. All proceeds benefit the San Diego Junior Life Foundation’s water safety and prevention initiatives.

If you can’t make the San Diego event, there may be a Swim 24Challenge coming to your area soon. “Because childhood drowning is a nationwide problem, we intend to scale this event nationwide over the next few years,” says Roger Martin, Chairman of Enduragive and Swim 24Challenge. “Although the launch is right here in San Diego, the event was designed so that it could be reproduced at any pool in any community with the proceeds benefitting local ‘learn to swim’ programs in the area. Enduragive provides all of the IT support (signups, fundraising websites, campaign materials), rule books, team logistics materials and operational guidebooks so that the local pools can easily run their own Swim 24Challenge event.”

The group is also planning to replicate the event in travel destinations such as the UK, Australia, and even a Swim 24Challenge world championship in Hawaii.

“Our goal is to raise enough money to teach every third to fifth grader in the U.S. how to swim,” says Corey McClelland, President of the San Diego Junior Lifeguard Foundation. “Drowning is preventable, we think we can make an impact by saving lives across America.”