Swimmers will be taking to the waters of the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown and pools all around Ireland on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th April 2010 to swim a mile as part of a major fundraising effort to raise funds in aid of Child Cancer Care.
The Annual Ian Daly Swim a Mile with a Smile has become an important swimming event each Spring and this year’s event promises to be even more successful than previous years. The challenge is for swimmers to be sponsored to swim a mile, 64 lengths of a 25 mtr pool. They can do this individually or as part of a group. This concept allows swimmers of all abilities, from novices to club swimmers, to take part.
The sponsored swim was started by Brian and Laura Daly in memory of their son, Ian, who died in 2003 aged 11 as a result of a particularly aggressive brain tumour. Ian was a very enthusiastic swimmer and a member of the Viking swimming club in Palmerstown, Dublin.
The swim has a very impressive array of supporters such as Jason Sherlock and the Dublin GAA football team, former world 5000mtrs champion Eamonn Coughlan, former Irish Olympic swimming star, Chantal Gibney and Hollywood super star Colin Farrell, who visited Ian in hospital. For the 2010 swim Brian and Laura have been lucky enough to get the support of The Edge from mega band U2.The swim is also proudly supported by Dublin’s Q102 . This year the swim hopes to match the €50,000 raised in 2009 for Barretstown camp for seriously ill children www.barretstown.org and for cancer research in Crumlin Children’s Hospital www.cmrf.org.
This is the Sixth year of this national event and the focal point of the swim will again be the National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown www.nac.ie on 24th and 25th April where swimmers can complete their swim for free from 11am to 3pm.. Booking on the event website www.swimamile.ie is essential as places are limited. If this weekend does not suit people they can do the swim in any of the public pools around Dublin or Kildare for free, on presentation of their sponsor card.
So come on everybody. Get your togs on and support this worthy cause. You can book through the event website www.swimamile.ie or contact Brian & Laura directly on 086-6006887.
