West Wight Waves swimmers raise more than £3,000 for community sports centre

Swimmers of all age ranges came together in show of community spirit, to raise more than £3,000 for the West Wight Sports & Community Centre at a special fund-raising event.

The inaugural West Wight Waves event saw 35 people take to the pool, collectively swimming an impressive 90,000 metres, the equivalent of around 60 miles, in support of the community facility.

Swimmers, aged from just four to 76, dived in to show their support. Leading by example was West Wight Swimming Club head coach, Lottie James, who completed 15,000m (600 lengths) of her home pool in three hours and 45 minutes.

Lottie said: “The atmosphere was electric, with every length swum helping support the future of our centre, and I couldn’t be prouder of everyone that took part.”

Among the stand-out efforts was Elora Briscoe, four, who proudly completed two lengths of the small pool, while Lenny Hassan-Green, who underwent heart surgery 15 months ago, achieved 1,000m. An all under-15 age group of Marley, Jake, Junior, James, and William, clocked up a combined 25,000m (5,000m each). Another great effort came from Amelie Chick, eight, who swam a huge 2,500m.

Beyond the pool generosity flowed just as strongly. Sports Centre trustee, Ann Freeman, was among the top fund-raisers, collecting more than £1,000 towards the total.

Centre manager, Clare Griffin, said: “We are, above all, a charity and we rely on amazing community support like this to help us keep delivering the range of sports and facilities we provide for everyone. We were so grateful to the swimmers, volunteers and supporters who made the first West Wight Waves event such a success, and we are confident that it will be the first of many.”