This weekend marked our very first Big Splash event at Sea Lanes, designed especially for young swimmers.
You may already know about the Rockinghorse Relay, our fantastic 12-hour overnight swim event held every year at the beautiful Sea Lanes pool on Brighton beach. This weekend, though, we launched the Big Splash, a brand new children’s swim challenge created especially for our younger supporters who love to swim, kindly sponsored by Hurst College.
The idea was simple: a sponsored swim for children aged 7–14, where participants could choose their own distance and fundraise for Rockinghorse. Since our Relay runs overnight across 12 hours, it isn’t suitable for younger swimmers, so we created this new event to make sure they didn’t miss out on the fun.
So, on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon, the swimmers began arriving at Sea Lanes for their allotted times.
Every swimmer had planned a particular distance but, in the end, every single one swam further than they had planned, with one swimmer Olivia (left, with her little brother), whose younger brother is currently receiving treatment at The Alex, planning to complete 800m but eventually managing 2,200m!
Another swimmer, Amelie, aged 8, came along with some other girls from school. She had a great time, saying, “I did the Big Splash with three friends from our school, Westdene.
“It was so cold when we first got in, we were all shivering! But once we set off it was really good. We had a target of 200m, but we all swam 250 meters. Loads of our families and friends and even my neighbour sponsored us and together we raised over £900 – I can’t believe we raised so much!
“We’re going to take our medals into school to show our teacher. I really hope the money helps to buy toys for children in hospital and one of those cars so kids can drive themselves to surgery, they look so cool.”
One parent who was there to support their child said, “We know only too well what it’s like to have a sick child in long term care at The Alex, but Rockinghorse have been amazing and we’ve definitely benefited from how they support children and their families, we’re so grateful.”
In the end the swimmers managed to raise nearly £3,500, which is a really impressive amount, and all the swimmers who took part received a
special Rockinghorse swim hat, goodie bag and medal to celebrate their achievement.
Jules Billings, Fundraising Manager at Rockinghorse said, “We’re absolutely thrilled at how successful the first ever Big Splash has been. It’s always slightly nerve-wracking to come up with a new event; not knowing if people will sign up or enjoy it, but it’s been brilliant.
“We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part, all the parents, families and siblings who came along to support them, not to mention everyone who sponsored the swimmers. And of course, everyone from South Downs Leisure and Sea Lanes who provided such a wonderful venue for these young swimmers to enjoy.”
If you would like to take part in the Rockinghorse Relay this September, you can sign up here. And keep an eye out for next year’s Big Splash if you have some younger swimmers who would like to support Rockinghorse.
