Swimathon FAQs

STANDARD ENTRY FEES:

Individual 5K: £15.00

Individual 2.5K: £15.00

Individual 1.5K: £15.00

Individual 500m: £15.00

Triple 5K: £15.00

Team challenges:

Team 5K £25.00

Team 2.5K £25.00

Team 1.5K £ 25.00

My Swimathon: Individual Free

My Swimathon: Team Challenges Free

Under 18s: FREE entry to under 18's until 12th February 2026. After this period, the standard entry fees above applies to all swimmers of all ages.

Here's a rough guide to help when entering your Swimathon speed:

500m: 40mins+ (Slow) > 30mins (Medium) > Sub 20mins (Fast)

1.5k: 1.5hrs+ (Slow) > 1hr (Medium) > Sub 20mins (Fast)

2.5k: 2hrs+ (Slow) > 1.5hrs (Medium) > Sub 1hr (Fast)

5k: 2.5hrs+ (Slow) > 2hrs (Medium) > Sub 1.5hrs (Fast)

Click here to see all of our available challenges

When you choose the Triple 5k Challenge you need to complete the registration process which will successfully register your first session. After completing the initial registration you will receive two additional emails. Each email will contain a link allowing you to register for your second and third sessions. This ensures all three of your swims are officially registered.

For the Swimathon weekend, entries close at 23:45pm, on 12th April 2027.

My Swimathon is open to enter until 23:45 on 29th April 2027 (swim to be completed by 23:59 on 30th April)

To secure a team entry, select any of the team options when registering and complete the form to create your team. All team members will then need to be invited by the person who created the team, to register their own details and join the team. You can invite people to join your team via the instructions on your dashboard – share the link with them so they can see the dashboard and click ‘join team’ - then they can register their details.

The entry fees may increase throughout the campaign.

We recommend early entry, so you can secure the best price, claim your place in your preferred pool and session and be in a position to kick start your training and fundraising as early as possible.

Pools and sessions do sell out, so we recommend early entry

Swimathon registration payments are made through Stripe, which accepts:

Credit and debit cards: Major brands like Visa, Mastercard & American Express.

●      Digital wallets: Google Pay and Apple Pay

●      Bank transfers: GBP bank transfers, credit transfers, and wires

●      Buy now, pay later services: Afterpay/Clearpay

●      Alternative payment methods: iDeal, Bancontact, Alipay, and WeChat

●      PayPal: Available for Stripe businesses

You can choose to swim the Triple5k (which is 3 x Swimathon 5k challenges), or you can choose your own 3 distances.

You are more than welcome to swim in as many organised Swimathon sessions as you wish over the event weekend. For each swim you wish to do, you will need to create a new registration, paying the entry fee for each place. Make sure to log out of your first registration before creating your second one. You can do this by clicking your name in the top bar. We then suggest that you only use one of your fundraising pages when sending your link out for sponsorship. You can mention in your 'personal message' that you are taking on more than one challenge.

If your local venue is not an option on the search list, the venue has not yet registered to host sessions in 2026. However, if they know that there are swimmers interested in joining at their venue, they may wish to do so. We recommend heading to the pool to let them know there is interest in their local area and they can still get in touch with us and register to host in 2026.

If they cannot host, this may be due to timetable clashes or staffing requirements. But you can still join! We recommend the ‘MySwimathon’ option, where you can swim anywhere, anytime between 1 March - 31 March 2026 – you would need to attend the venue during standard recreational hours and track your own results to submit online. So, there are options available to you if your venue does not register to host a session at their pool.

Yes there is! Head over to our website where there are hoodies and tshirts available for adults and children .

Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie will receive at least 70% of the total funds raised by Swimathon. The Swimathon Foundation will receive the balance of the funds raised by the Swimathon participants which it uses to fund its operating expenses as the owner of the Swimathon Event and to offer Swimathon Foundation Community Grants to promote swimming participation in communities around Swimathon hosted pools.

Just Giving are our fundraising platform to help us support the incredible work of our charity partners Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie and Swimathon Foundation. Your Just Giving page is now automatically created, so that it is quick and easy for you to start your fundraising journey with us.

If you choose not to fundraise with us for 2027, you do not need to personalise the page or share the campaign link, this page will be dormant.

Please do share your challenge and your Just Giving page with your friends and family and help us raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie and Swimathon Foundation. All fundraising, regardless of the amount, is very much appreciated, so thank you for your support.

Yes, our fundraising partners at Just Giving are offering exciting rewards. Be sure to set up your fundraising project on the official Swimathon event page to be eligible for these incentives.

If you qualify for a reward, confirmation of this will be sent out to you via email once you have hit your fundraising goal. This will happen from January 2027 onwards.

Rewards will be sent out fortnightly from February 2026 onwards. Please note that the incentive fundraising deadline is 30 April 2026.

Please see terms and conditions for full details of fundraising rewards.

1.      Log into your JustGiving account, click “Fundraising” and check here for your Swimathon fundraising page. If you have completed the set up, you will be able to Edit, View or Share your page.

‍2.      If you don’t see your Swimathon fundraising page here, you will need to search your emails for an email titled “You’re in! Now let’s make an impact!” and click the ‘Complete my fundraising page’ link to complete your set up.

‍If you have any queries about completing the set-up of your fundraising page, please contact us at info@swimathon.org

‍If you have questions about your fundraising page after it’s been set up on JustGiving, please contact help@justgiving.com for assistance.

‍ You can keep track of Swimathon fundraising here.

‍ ‍

Log into your Just Giving account and navigate to your Swimathon project page. From there, you can easily share your fundraising page directly on social media or via email.

When registering for the event, you’ll have the option to indicate if you're part of a team. Simply enter your team name and the names of your team members. This will automatically create a team page on Just Giving, linking all individual fundraising pages under one team profile. For any questions contact help@justgiving.com

The official charity partners of Swimathon 2027 are Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie and Swimathon Foundation. Participants of the event should fundraise for Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie only

If you are taking part in Swimathon and want to collect money in person, click here to download your sponsorship form.*

Don’t forget that you can pay in any cash you have collected into your Just Giving page using a credit or debit card.

*Please note that only online fundraising through a Swimathon Just Giving page is counted towards your qualification for a fundraising reward.

We encourage all fundraisers to pay in any offline fundraising (Cash/Cheques) into their Just Giving page.

If this is not possible:

Cheques will need to be made payable to either Cancer Research UK or Marie Curie and sent along with your full name to one of the below addresses:

Swimathon Team, Cancer Research UK, PO Box 1561, Oxford OX4 9GZ

OR

Swimathon Team, Marie Curie, PO BOX 23897, 14 Links Place, Edinburgh, EH6 9AB

All offline income paid in will go towards the total income raised and split as follows:

Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie will receive at least 70% of the total funds raised by Swimathon. The Swimathon Foundation will receive the balance of the funds raised by the Swimathon participants which it uses to fund its operating expenses as the owner of the Swimathon Event and to offer Swimathon Foundation Community Grants to promote swimming participation in communities around Swimathon hosted pools.

Swimathon will take place on Friday 16th April - 18th April 2027.

To be the first to hear when we launch and claim a discount, register your interest now.

Challenges range from 500m to Swimathon 5k and Triple 5k. Individuals and Teams can take part.

Swimathon is designed to be inclusive and accessible. This is your swim. Distances range from 500m to the Triple 5k, there is a Swimathon challenge for you! The blue ribband event is the Swimathon 5k. We’ve consolidated all Challenge types for you to read more here

Swimathon takes place on the weekend of 20- 22 March 2026. Venues across the country have signed up to host sessions throughout the weekend, for you to complete your specific Swimathon challenge at. You can meet other swimmers taking on Swimathon and all join together to complete your distances. Medals will be awarded at the session following your swim and your venue will submit your swim times to us.

MySwimathon runs from 1 March - 31 March 2026, overlapping Swimathon weekend.

This option allows you to swim in your own time, wherever suits you, and submit your own results. This is useful if you don’t live near a venue hosting a session or aren’t able to join any hosted session times near you. It also suits if you prefer to swim independently, not in a Swimathon session!

To complete your MySwimathon challenge, simply head to a swimming venue during open hours, and book in as per their preferred method for recreational swimmers. You keep track of your distance and time, and then log that into your Swimmer dashboard to submit your results! Medals will be posted out once they are submitted.

The below figures are based on a 25m pool:

Triple 5k > 9.37 Miles > 600 Lengths

Swimathon 5k > 3.1 Miles > 200 Lengths

2.5k > 1.6 Miles > 100 Lengths

1.5k > 0.9 Miles > 60 Lengths

500m > 0.3 Miles > 20 Lengths

Swimathon is held in over 450 pools across the UK. Visit our Venues page to check out where these pools are and to find your closest one.

If you can’t make the Swimathon weekend (20-22 March 2026), a pool isn’t close enough to you, or if you just fancy a bit more flexibility to your Swimathon challenge, take advantage of MySwimathon. This entry option allows you to swim any distance (one of the set challenges or make up your own), any time and at any venue of your choosing between Sunday 1 March - Tuesday 31 March 2026.

Please note if you enter under MySwimathon the leisure centre you wish to swim at will charge you to enter the pool.

Keep your eyes peeled for our Training Zone featuring the 10 week and 5 week training plans coming later in the year.

For MySwimathon Challenges, this is only limited by the bookings you make at your venues during their recreational hours.

For Venue-Hosted sessions, most venues host a 3-hour session for swimmers to complete their distances, some may be able to offer more time, and some may be restricted to less time - so look out for this when selecting your session so you know how long you have to complete.

Venue-Hosted session times are set by the venues and may be limited due to staffing or other bookings they have in place. If you require longer than the specified session time, we recommend speaking directly to your venue to arrange that.

Teams can be made up of 2-5 people. Only one swimmer is allowed in the pool at any one time. You can split the distances up in any way you wish.

Click here to view the Swimathon rules.

Swimathon welcomes all ages and abilities.* It doesn’t matter if you can swim one length or one thousand, Swimathon has the challenge for you!

* Under 16s must be entered and accompanied by an adult.

We allow swim aids to ensure our challenges are inclusive to all swimmer abilities. However we recommend getting in touch with the venue directly to see if they have any limitations on the specific type of swimming aid used, as you will be sharing the lane with other swimmers completing Swimathon.

As per our Terms and Conditions, the entry fee for Swimathon 2026 is non-refundable and non-transferrable.

As stated in the Terms and Conditions, if you have registered as an individual entry, it is not possible to change this to a team entry. You will need to re-register as a team and contact Swimathon to cancel your individual entry. If you have registered as a team entry, it is not possible to change this to an individual entry. You will need to re-register as an individual and contact the Swimathon team to cancel your team entry. A refund will not be given for your first entry.

You can no longer complete this via your dashboard.

If you wish to change your challenge distance please let the venue know upon arrival to record your new distance on their records.

You can log in to your dashboard and change your venue or session, changes must be made by 6th March 2026.

You will be provided with a latex Swim hat at the event so that the lap counters can spot you.

If you have chosen to opt out, or you have purchased one of our new silicone hats, you may bring your own.

Upon confirmation of entry, you will have received an email from info@swimathon.org

If you are not sure of your session details, contact info@swimathon.org

Yes you can. The remaining teams members can cover the distance.

Please take a photo / send a link to your results to info@swimathon.org and we will correct them.

Please take a photo / send a link to your results to info@swimathon.org and we will correct them.

Unfortunately not but you can enter MySwimathon and complete your chosen distance in your own time.

Yes you can, please speak to the team poolside and they can change your distance

Yes you can.  Please email info@swimathon.org and we can do it for you.  You need to complete it by 31st March 

We can move you to MySwimathon

The session has a fixed start time.

This may not be possible if the later session is full.

Please email info@swimathon.org and we will arrange to have one sent to you. Towel incentive is posted out based on fundraising £300 and £300 per person if a team sharing a Just giving page.

We have over 450 pools hosting over 800 sessions so the charities can’t attend all sessions 

We have over 450 pools hosting over 800 sessions so can’t attend all sessions.

Please speak to the leisure centre manager to resolve this ASAP. and email us. We will include in our feedback. 

Please speak to the leisure centre manager to resolve this ASAP and email us. We will include in our feedback. 

Not a problem. Email us at info@swimathon.org and we will remove them.

Email us at info@swimathon.org and we will include this in our feedback.  The pools do try to create an atmosphere for the event.

The tech team are aware and are working to fix the issue.

Thank you for letting us know we are in contact with JustGiving to get this resolved.

To record your MySwimathon result / time please log into your dashboard via your confirmation emails and there is a box for the result.
Please send any queries or changes to results to info@swimathon.org.

Your fundraising incentive will be sent to you automatically once you meet the qualifying fundraising amount.

The great thing about Swimathon is that you don't even have to get wet to get involved! Many pools require volunteers to help register swimmers, log laps, record times, support and encourage their swimmers. Click here to find out about our volunteer programme.

If you can aim to arrive at your sessions half an hour before the swim time so you have enough time to get changed and be ready to swim at the start of the session time. For example, if your sessions is 8am-11am, you will start swimming at 8am.

All swimmers will receive a medal for completing their challenge. Those taking part in an organised Swimathon session will receive their medal immediately after successfully completing their swim. Those taking part in MySwimathon will be sent a medal via post after meeting the fundraising criteria and uploading their challenge time online.

Please note, Swimathon 5k medals will only be given to those who complete the individual Swimathon 5k challenge.

If you are taking part in the Triple 5k challenge, you’ll receive 3 x Swimathon 5k medals

All swimmers will need a cap to wear when taking on their challenge to help the lap counters count your laps.

You can buy a premium silicone swim cap as part of your entry, bring your own (by opting out of receiving one on the day) or pick up a latex cap on arrival at your pool's registration.

Those taking part in MySwimathon will not receive a cap unless purchased.

All swimmers will be able to download their personal certificates from their dashboard after the event.