Aqua Sphere has reached an agreement with Votwo Events to become an associate partner of the 2011 RNLI Long Swim Series. The agreement underlines Aqua Sphere’s commitment to encourage and support more people to take the plunge and enjoy outdoor swimming.
As well as donating all swim caps, Aqua Sphere is supplying wetsuit and goggle prizes to the individual event winners and its premium specification Phantom wetsuit to the overall male and female series champions.
This successful swim series, now in its sixth year, was originally a stand-alone 3.8K swim event at South Cerney in Gloucestershire and was devised to help Ironman athletes prepare for their big swim goal.
Proving highly popular, it has now developed into a mass participant event across five locations in the south of England.
Excitingly, this year the organisers have added a 1 mile swim to all events and a 750m swim at selected venues to encourage participation from all levels of swimmer, from shy beginners who just want to sample the adrenalin of swimming outdoors to Ironman standard elites keen to test their long swim prowess.
Swimmers are encouraged to raise sponsorship for the RNLI, the charity that saves lives at sea. In 2010 RNLI volunteer crews saved an average of 22 lives every day and the charity continues to rely on voluntary donations and sponsorships to help its volunteer crews and lifeguards continue their vital work.
Ben Mason of Votwo Events said “We are delighted to have seen our event grow over the years and for 2011 the series is going to be bigger and better than ever, with all levels of swimmer encouraged to take the plunge.
“In terms of brand integrity, Aqua Sphere is breaking new ground regarding goggle innovation and wetsuit technology and all participants will have the opportunity to hire wetsuits and buy goggles on entry, ensuring they are perfectly kitted out for their race.
“It’s very gratifying for us to receive such high level brand endorsement and we believe this partnership cements Aqua Sphere’s position as a key supporter of the swim industry."
Kevin Richards of Aqua Sphere noted that "Traditionally the 3.8K swims have been popular for triathletes looking to test themselves over an Ironman distance and for open water swimmers looking for a challenging swim.
“The new addition of a mile swim at each event and a 750m swim at selected events really opens up the races to swimmers of all abilities, giving everyone the opportunity to test themselves in open water.
“At Aqua Sphere we are serious about helping swimmers to feel as comfortable and secure as possible in the water, ensuring maximum enjoyment as well as optimum performance. We are delighted to be associated with this race series."
RNLI Events Manager Rachel Clarke added “The RNLI Long Swim Series is an important fundraiser for us. This is the first time we’ve been involved and as it’s such an exciting, daring challenge we hope many people will decide to enter and raise sponsorship money.”
RNLI Long Swim Series – venues and dates for 2011:
Race 1: 12th June. South Cerney, Lake swim (Gloucestershire)
Race 2: 17th July. Box End, Lake swim (Bedfordshire)
Race 3: 14th August. Bournemouth, Sea swim (Dorset)
Race 4: 28th August Margate, Sea Swim (Kent)
Race 5: 25th September Dorney Lake, Lake swim (Berkshire)
Entry fees: 3.8K –
