Yeah, this has a little to do with the "how to promote the sport" discussion, but what would some of you feel about this.
We have Turkey Trots and Jingle Bell Runs and who knows how many walks for charity, even boke rides - what about swims for chairty? You don't have to be a good swimmer, although some ostensibly would be. But you just need to get sponsors for like whatever cents a lap, or a 1/4 mile or whatever, and get in the pool and raise money for something. It would take some organizing on the part of the more motivated, but POSSIBLY it would draw some people to the sport, raising money, not giving it to the participants and maybe some people who are more on the famous side would come to host it to get people there, or particpiating, or maybe even not and it could fly on it's own.
Just an idea I had and wanted to run it by some swimmers. So would you participate, and how do you think it would go?
Parents
Former Member
My team, in cooperation with two or three (depending on the year) other clubs in New York, has been doing an annual charity pool swim event for about 12 years, based on the USMS Hour Swim.
Essentially, we collect pledges based on lengths completed during the hour, with proceeds going to a local organization (generally AIDS and/or youth related). It's been very succesful and each year we've raised more money than the last. It's also been one of our major team events and tremendous boost to team cohesiveness.
Of course, since our event is USMS sanctioned, it's open only to USMS members. We need the sanction for insurance, but I don't see why a similar "open" event could not be sponsored by an organization able to obtain coverage independently. As I recall, the Swim for the Future that Rich mentioned, which had a similar format (and which I swam in), wasn't USMS-sanctioned and was open to all. It was also tremendously successful -- I think it raised over $100,000.
My team, in cooperation with two or three (depending on the year) other clubs in New York, has been doing an annual charity pool swim event for about 12 years, based on the USMS Hour Swim.
Essentially, we collect pledges based on lengths completed during the hour, with proceeds going to a local organization (generally AIDS and/or youth related). It's been very succesful and each year we've raised more money than the last. It's also been one of our major team events and tremendous boost to team cohesiveness.
Of course, since our event is USMS sanctioned, it's open only to USMS members. We need the sanction for insurance, but I don't see why a similar "open" event could not be sponsored by an organization able to obtain coverage independently. As I recall, the Swim for the Future that Rich mentioned, which had a similar format (and which I swam in), wasn't USMS-sanctioned and was open to all. It was also tremendously successful -- I think it raised over $100,000.
