Swimmers at Finchley Lido, Barnet Copthall, and New Barnet leisure centres all took part, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

Participants at last month's swimathon (credit GLL) — Participants at last month’s swimathon (credit GLL)

Residents in Barnet have raised over £1,000 for cancer charities in an annual swimathon.

Seventy-five residents took part in Swimathon Foundation’s annual swimathon last month, each swimming between 400 metres and five kilometres.

Finchley Lido, Barnet Copthall, and New Barnet leisure centres, all run by Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) under their brand name ‘Better’, have been involved with the campaign for several years.

Lara Bone, GLL’s community sport manager in the region, attended the event, which took place over the last weekend in March.

She said: “There was a lot of friendly competition, there were families that came along, some people swam as a family, some had them there to support them. It was a very good crowd, it was good to see everyone come together.”

Lara added: “Some people do have a connection to cancer and different illnesses. One person who took part is actually going through cancer and some have been through it. It’s open to everyone as long as you can swim 25 metres.”

Swimathon Foundation has run an annual fundraising swimathon at participating swimming pools across the UK since 1988. The event has taken place for several years in Barnet, gaining more popularity each time according to Lara.

Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie, and the Swimathon Foundation, all selected by the foundation itself, were the three recipients of the money.

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