Zoggs take on Swimathon 2015

This year we had the privilege of being the Swimathon swim brand partner once again. Thousands of you took to the lanes this month to help raise money for Marie Curie, and we were honoured to be a part of it.

To show our support the Zoggs team were at the Aquatic Centre at London’s Olympic Park and even though it was cloudy and miserable outside at times, the energy around the pool was absolutely fantastic.We met some incredibly inspirational swimmers and loved hearing your stories and congratulating you on your fantastic achievements.

The Zoggs team even took to the pool in the 1:45pm session to take on the 5km challenge. Despite a minor injury along the way and one of our swimmers having to be helped out of the pool early, the Zoggs team managed to just beat their time from last year and completed the swim in 1 hour 44 minutes and 22 seconds!

We took a few moments to have a chat with Jocelyn, Claire and Tom about their Swimathon experience:

Jocelyn, you learnt to swim as an adult. How did you find swimming in a 50m pool at the Aquatic Centre?

“I was really nervous in the run up to the event. I’ve only ever swum in a 25m pool and so the prospect of swimming in a busy lane in the amazing Olympic pool was quite daunting! However, as I was swimming first there wasn’t a huge amount of time to think about it. It was hard going, 50m feels like a very long way when you are used to a 25m pool, so I alternated between crawl and breaststroke lengths to give me a bit of a change; I’m really pleased I did it!”

What kit did you choose for the day?

“I wore the Sandon Scoopback Neon Tribal swimming costume. This suit is really flattering and I love the bright colours. The bust support is really good and it’s front lined, which is great smoothing the tummy area – perfect for when you have had three kids like me! I wore Predator Flex Clear goggles – I discovered these last year before I started working at Zoggs and absolutely love them. They are super comfy and never leak, they’re really easy to adjust and rarely fog. I didn’t want to be constantly stopping to adjust or empty water out of my goggles during the Swimathon and my Predators didn’t let me down!

Tom, you wore the Phantom Elite goggles during your swim, what made you decide on those?

“I wore the Phantom Elite goggles because in the pool I like a goggle that isn’t too chunky or too low profile. I find the Phantom Elite to be in-between the two extremes - it gives me the peripheral vision I need but also feels streamlined as well as being really comfortable.”

You suffered a bit of a setback during your swim, what happened?

“Towards the end of my swim I suffered a severe cramp like nothing I have experienced before! I managed to get to the end of the lane and out of the pool by myself, but there was a very enthusiastic lifeguard on hand to help in case I needed it! I did find the swim challenging having never swum that far in one session before, but I would definitely like to increase my swim fitness and try it again.”

Claire, you chose the Hero goggles designed for the event to help raise funds for Marie Curie, how did you find them?

“Having swum competitively, I’m a bit of a fan of low profile goggles, but they’re not normally big on comfort. The Swimathon goggles are based on our Fusion Air range, which have air cushioned gaskets making them really comfortable to wear, reducing the pressure on the face and really minimising goggle marks around your eyes.”

How did you find the event?

"To put it simply, Swimathon 2015 was a really fun experience to share with friends and family, swimming as a team to push ourselves for charity. The iconic London Aquatics Centre provided the backdrop for our challenge and the support from spectators and other swimmers was amazing. What other event where swimmers of all ages, genders, abilities, shapes and sizes can take part and enjoy the experience together? All raising money for a great cause!”

You can check out a load more photos from the event on our Facebook page
www.facebook.com/zoggsuk