Keri -Anne Payne – 2008 Olympic Medalist and two time open water world champion launches the official media campaign for the Great East Swim 2016.
The Great East Swim 2016 returns to Alton Water near Ipswich for the eighth time on Saturday June 18th 2016. The official media campaign for the event was launched on Ipswich Waterfront by Rio hopeful Keri-anne Payne along with Councillor Tony Goldson ( Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for Health) and local charity representatives from Suffolk Accident and Rescue Service and Dream On.
The Great East swim attracts around 2,000 participants of all capabilities and ages from total beginners through to the more expert open water swimmers. The swim is truly a family event and this year the organisers have added a marathon 10k course for experienced open water swimmers, but kids can start at distances a small as 250mts.
The Great East Swim also includes an outreach programme where over 3,000 pupils from 95 Suffolk primary and junior schools take part in pool swimming sessions, culminating in a schools gala day before the event. Twelve school children from Springfield Primary school in ipswich joined Keri-anne on the Ipswich Waterfront for the launch of the event, and they all received a swimming master class from Keri-anne at Crown pools later in the morning.
The event also featured representatives from the Suffolk Accident Rescue Service (SARS), which is an emergency medical charity that provides specially trained volunteer doctors and paramedics to assist at the scenes of serious incidents. Also at the launch were ladies from Dream On, which exists to help women make their lives work better by improving confidence and building new skills.
Councillor Tony Goldson was there to support the launch as Suffolk County Council has an ambition for Suffolk to become England’s most active county. In addition, the council believe the event will have a positive impact on the local economy as it’s estimated to have generated £629,000 in 2015.
To enter or for more information about the event go to greatswim.org/east.
Keri-anne Payne at Ipswich Waterfront
Team Members of Suffolk Accident Rescue Service
Pupils of Springfield Primary School at the Old Cutsom House on Ipswich Waterfront
