Assured Home Care client, Nevin, and his team of fellow ‘snorkellers’ certainly raised the bar with their record-breaking relay and fundraising efforts at this year’s MS Mighty Swim.
A popular annual event since 2006, the MS Mighty Swim is an amateur relay race, with teams of up to 30 people swimming continuously over a 24-hour period. It is the largest fundraiser event for the MS Society SA/NT, raising awareness and supporting people living with MS in South Australia and the Northern Territory.
This year, around 20 teams took part in the event, which was held at the Unley Swimming Pool on February 8 and 9.
Nevin and his team ‘Nev’s Snorkellers’ took out the honours, completing a massive 733 laps (73.3kms), beating the previously held record of 719 laps, and raising $11,043 in donations!
It’s the first year that Nevin has participated in the event and, with this year’s incredible performance and the enjoyment had by all, will certainly not be his last.
“I was involved with other activities through the MS Society, and had been encouraged to give it a go,” he says.
“Fortunately, I spoke with my Aunty, who is a Lifeguard and she helped me to put together the team and get the word out.”
Speaking of breaking records, Nev says, “We treated it as a bit of a joke in the leadup.”
“My Aunty is also a Junior School Principal and maths whiz, so we looked closely at the stats before the event to see what was achievable,” he says.
“It was a team effort, and I’m really proud of everyone.”
There were many people living with MS who participated in the event, each with varying abilities. Included within Nev’s own team of 19, were 3 swimmers with MS.
“I think it was great for many of our team members who didn’t have much awareness of MS before, to see people having a go,” says Nevin.
“The crowd support was amazing, with people camping out and lots of activities going on poolside,” he says.
“It was a humbling experience for me, being invited to swim the first and final laps for the team, with the sounds of the crowd cheering and clapping,” he says.
“It was just a really wonderful experience.”
Well done, and a huge congratulations to Nevin and everyone on his team!
Overall, this year’s event raised close to $115,000 for the MS Society.
Assured Home Care lent support to the team, sponsoring Nev’s Snorkellers banners and t-shirts.
Further Information
To find out more about the work of the MS Society SA/NT, or to donate, visit https://www.ms.asn.au/
Keep an eye out for next year’s event https://www.teammssant.org.au/mightyswim
