London Fields Lido hosts Swimathon 2024
Last weekend, London Fields Lido had the pleasure of hosting Swimathon 2024. Across the country, over 10,000 swimmers challenged themselves to complete long-distance swims, raising over £1 million for Cancer Research and Marie Curie so far. For the Lido, it has been another successful consecutive year as a key Swimathon venue, following on from last year’s sizeable turnout and notable visit from Duncan Goodhew.
If you visit the Swimathon website, you will be greeted with beautiful, sunny footage of the fundraiser at the Lido in May 2023. It is no wonder that those videos and pictures from the day have been chosen to populate the official site - after all, the Lido in the sunshine is irresistible. This year, though, the brave swimmers who chose to complete their challenge with us had an extra obstacle. They faced much cooler temperatures, winds, and even heavy rainfall on Saturday. It is hard enough to leave the house in those conditions, let alone hop in the pool and, for some of the swimmers, do this three times over to rack up 15 kilometres across the weekend. And yet, each evening, dozens of swimmers were with us, some nervous, some excited, but already completing their pledged distances. It was truly inspiring to watch the participants and their supporters cheer each other on, undeterred by anything Mother Nature had thrown at them.
It is not only the swimmers, however, that deserve recognition for their hard work this weekend. As always, the Swimathon would not have been possible without our fantastic Lido volunteers. Leading the registration desk and lap counting, our volunteers also went above and beyond to reassure and encourage swimmers all the way through the event. Not only were they extremely generous with their time, but they were also each so welcoming to all the participants, creating a happy and inclusive atmosphere. It is in moments like this that you can see the Lido at its best, with everyone working together to pull off a really brilliant weekend of swimming. Thank you, volunteers - we couldn’t have done it without you!
For the grand finale on Sunday, the Lido shut to the public in the evening to facilitate the Swimathon. On the biggest day yet, we were pleased to hand out medals to everyone who swam and celebrate their amazing accomplishments. Among the Sunday crew, Team Lido achieved a challenge of their own - a 5-kilometre team relay, captained by the General Manager, Raf. Our JustGiving page is still going, which you can find here.
All in all, we are happy to say it was a great weekend for a worthy cause and we hope the good experience from this year will encourage many more participants in the years to come. Bring on Swimathon 2025!