The Kelowna AquaJets will be hosting their first annual 24-Hour Swim Relay on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018.
More than 300 swimmers are expected to take part in a fundraiser for both the KAJ Swim Club and the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign.
The event will take place at H20 Fitness and Adventure Centre with the first swimmer to dive in at exactly 4 p.m.
Swimmers will be placed in groups of 8 to 20 swimmers and will swim in a continuous relay for one session. Each swimmer will take turns diving in and swimming 50m, or two lengths of the 25m pool.
Swimmers will continue in a relay take-over style for the duration of their session. Sessions are two hours in length and will continue through the night for a full 24 hours.
During the last hour of the race on Saturday, February 16 from 3 to 4 p.m, fellow swimmers and supporters in the community are encouraged to come out and cheer on the remaining swimmers.
The event will end shortly thereafter with some prize draws and the announcement of the number of laps each lane accomplished.
The 24-Hr Swim Relay is an opportunity for the club to raise funds and will take the place of Swim-Mania, which has been held in past years. The club has the goal of raising $20,000. Funds raised will be used to continue providing the opportunity for children in our community to learn valuable skills including discipline, teamwork, self-motivation, work ethic, goal-setting, coach-ability and sportsmanship through competitive swimming.
In addition, the Kelowna AquaJets will be donating 10 per cent of all monies raised to the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign. The YMCA Strong Kids Campaign provides direct financial support to hundreds of kids in our community helping them to learn to swim, helping teams to lead and feel success, enables children to participate in recreation and physical activities and enables families access to trusted, quality child care.
The Kelowna AquaJets is a non-profit competitive swim club with a membership of 350 swimmers, ranging in age and skill level from six-year old Jr. Jets to Olympic qualifying and finalist swimmers.
‘“It takes a community to run a successful swim club, something we can proudly say we have,” says Emil Dimitrov, head coach of KAJ. “We are really excited for this 24-hr relay and believe it will be a huge opportunity for our swimmers to participate in something bigger than themselves and give them an opportunity to give back to the community.”