Swimming sisters still ready to dip after nearly 50 years

Wednesday 06 March 2019

Sisters who have taken part in every single Swimarathon since the yearly charity water fest launched will today be making a splash for the 48th year in a row.

Angie de Carteret and Pat Hingston are believed to be the only swimmers to have taken part in every single edition of the annual swimming challenge since it launched nearly half a century ago in 1972.

This year, the pair's incredible achievement will be honoured in a very special way.

The role of ‘event starter’ traditionally falls to the Island’s Lieutenant Governor but this year His Excellency Sir Stephen Dalton and Lady Dalton will be out of the island, which meant the Lions Club had to find someone to fill in the post. They said they felt it most fitting that this key role should be delegated to two of the event’s keenest supporters.

Pictured: Thousands of swimmers are expected in the pool between tomorrow and Sunday.

“As far as we can determine, only Angie and Pat can lay claim to being the longest serving ‘Swimarathoners’ and without any doubt are the only sisters who can claim this title,” Lion Peter Tabb, the Lions publicity officer, said. “Thus we felt it entirely appropriate that, in the absence of His Excellency, Angie and Pat were the most appropriate for this role.”

Several other notable local personalities, such as the States Economic Adviser Colin Powell, and several current members of the Lions Club, can lay claim to swimming in most Swimarathons - but not all of them.  

“The early team lists were compiled by hand by the late Harold Michel and Roy Horsfall of the Jersey Swimming Club and as far as we are awaree these records no longer exist,” Lion Tabb said.

The Lions Swimarathon is Jersey's longest running and most successful fundraising event. Since the first one in 1972, the event has raised more than £3.5million, and in the last decade more than 100 local charities have benefited from the sponsorship of the event and the individual sponsorship of the thousands of swimmers.

Last year, over 4,000 swimmers took part, covering 27,000 laps and helping raise £120,000 for the Grace Crocker Family Support Foundation, Headway Jersey, Jersey Association of Carers, Jersey Child Care Trust and MIND Jersey.

This year, which marks the 48th Swimarathon, the Lions Club picked five local charities caring for families as beneficiaries: Brighter Futures, Caring Cooks, Milli’s Separated Family Centre, Mind Jersey, and Silkworth Lodge. Each charity will receive up to £10,000 from the funds raised.

The Lions will also be donating a further up to £10,000 to a ‘People’s Choice’, the charity nominated by a majority of the participating teams, plus committing at least up to a further £50,000 to community service activities in the island.

The Swimarathon will kick off today at Les Quennevais and will continue until Sunday. The family and friends of Neil Hussey, whose death prompted the creation of a heart charity, will be among the many swimmers taking to the pool in a bid to raise funds for charities.

For the fourth year in a row they will be running the Orange Hour, complete with orange t-shirts, wigs and pom-poms. Eight teams of nine swimmers of all ages will take to the pool on Saturday at 20:00 in memory of Neil, who died suddenly while riding his bike in 2015.

Pictured: Fundraisers for the Neil Hussey Heart Charity, which was founded after the tragic death of a local man who died of a heart condition he didn’t know he had, will be getting involved.

Blanca Palacin, Neil's wife, said: "He was a keen swimmer for many years during his younger years and university and we find that it is the ideal way to pay him a tribute."