Special Trophies Awarded at Swimarathon for Lions 100th Anniversary

To celebrate the Lions 100th anniversary, the teams who entered the annual Henley Lions Swimarathon were delighted to be presented with special trophies to mark this occasion on Saturday at Henley Leisure Centre.

23 teams took to the water from Trinity,  St Mary’s, Nettlebed, Valley Road and Gillotts Schools along with teams from Mencap, 1st Henley Brownies, Shiplake Scouts and Henley Sea Cadets to swim lengths in a relay over 40 mins.  Teams ranged from 3 to 7 members with 130 children and adults taking part.

The Gillott’s Dicey Dolphins team (Seb Van Duijn, Luke Morgan, Oliver Shute, Jo Jo Barry, Callum Aiken and Archie Smith) swam the most lengths for their second year running with a personal best of 103 lengths.

Deputy Mayor, Councillor Lorraine Hillier officially started the event.  She said, “I’m delighted to start the swim as it a great event which raises money for local charities.  The sponsorship raised is shared 50/50 between the Henley Lions charities and the groups taking part.”

Three teachers from Valley Road (Caroline Lock, Rachel Herbert and Caroline Barefield) were raising money to update their school defibrillator.  1st Henley Brownies are donating all of their £330 to the Henley Lions for their charities again this year.  Michaela Clarke, Brownie Leaders said, “The girls really enjoy this event and this year’s team had another personal best with 84 lengths.”

Liz Preston who organised the event said, “Thank you to all the teams who took part and to Henley Leisure Centre for providing the venue again free of charge.  I’m delighted to announce that the event raised a staggering £5959.17 (over £1,000 more than last year).”