18 October 2026
A community tradition, nineteen years strong.
One community. One pool. One day. Countless lives changed.
This year you’ll be making a splash for some more great causes
For almost two decades, the Woking Rotary Swimathon has brought together schools, businesses, community groups, families and friends to do something extraordinary for local charities. Together they’ve raised more than £250,000 to support organisations making a real difference across Woking and the surrounding area.
This October we’re inviting another 60 teams to join us. Spend 55 minutes in the pool, swim whatever distance you comfortably can, and help support local charities that rely on our community’s generosity. Every length counts. Every pound helps.
“When we started the Swimathon, we could never have imagined the difference it would go on to make. More than £250,000 later, it's still the community spirit that inspires me most.”
Terry Smith
Thanks to everyone that entered in 2025
The more than £18,000 raised from the 2025 Swimathon has been shared between a number of local charities supported by Woking Rotary Club including, amongst others, Woking & Sam Beare Hospices, Woking Community First Responders, SERV Surrey & London, Meath School and Woking Snorkel & Scuba. You can find details of what they are doing with the money raised in this PDF document: Swimathon 2025
The Swimathon simply couldn't happen without the generosity of our sponsors. We're especially grateful to Trident Honda, whose continued support has helped make this event possible year after year.
2026 Team Registration now open
Get your team together now
- Schools, businesses, clubs, families and groups of friends are all welcome. Start thinking about the five or six people you’d like on your team now that team registration is open.
- The team organiser completes a team entry form by clicking on the link below. If you are entering more than one team, you’ll need to complete a separate form for each team.
- Once your team is registered, details of how to make the most of your sponsorship efforts will be sent to the team organiser and individual team members.
- What are you waiting for? Dive in! The water’s lovely.
FAQs
Our Swimathon 2025 is a fun event organised by Woking Rotary Club to raise money for charitable causes.
Everyone! Local charities get money to help with their important work, whilst the teams of swimmers have lots of fun trying to swim as many lengths as possible whilst raising as much sponsorship money as possible.
Any confident swimmer who is at least 8 years old, so teams representing many local schools (pupils, staff and parents take part), plus teams from other Rotary clubs, youth groups, health clubs, shops, charities, offices, police, paramedics, families, businesses, fire crew, nurses and doctors, friends, scouts and guides, cubs, and swimming clubs. In short, anyone who can swim.
All team members who take part will be awarded a commemorative medal.
Organising an event such as this takes significant resources. We always try to keep our costs to a minimum. Volunteers do all the work but inevitably there are expenses. For the 19th successive year, Trident Honda is the main sponsor of the Swimathon and is meeting a substantial share of these costs. But this still leaves a large sum to find, and we very much welcome other sponsorship for the event, either corporate or individual.
You and your team will not only raise vital funds for local charities but will have lots of fun being part of a great day.
We have teams from schools, youth groups, families, work colleagues, sports clubs, local businesses, charities and groups of friends. Everyone is made very welcome, and we hope they all leave with a great sense of achievement. Teams are usually made up of six swimmers, but this can vary.
All swimmers must be safe in deep water, but because you only swim one length at a time you don’t have to be especially strong. You will be in the water for 55 minutes, but you will be resting at the end of your lane between lengths. The whole team may swim about 100 lengths in total, but if one of you is much stronger than the others, you might swim more lengths than your team mates. Taking part is what really matters.
The activity within the Pool building is under the supervision and control of the Pool management at all times.
We welcome children taking part. The minimum age for swimmers is eight years at the time of the event and every team member must be confident swimming in deep water. Children less than sixteen years old need the consent of their parents or guardians. In the case of School Teams, this may be arranged through the school, if the Woking Rotary Club agrees in advance.
Information and documents for the event, including entry and sponsorship forms, are available here on this website. Entry and sponsorship enquiries should be made to Terry Smith on 01483 762832 or at terry.smith@rotarywoking.co.uk
