The event takes place from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd March to raise money for Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie and Swimathon Foundation
Waltham Forest Feel Good Centre, Leytonstone Leisure Centre and Chingford Leisure Centre will be hosting fundraising challenges this weekend as part of Swimathon 2026, the world’s biggest fundraising swim.
The event takes place from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd March to raise money for Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie and Swimathon Foundation. The UK’s foremost leisure charitable social enterprise GLL will host over 1,200 fundraising challenges in 87 of its managed pools for Swimathon 2026 across the UK.
Individuals can choose to swim a variety of distances – 500m, 1.5k, 2.5k, Swimathon 5k and Triple 5k distances – with teams choosing 1.5k, 2.5k and 5k challenges.
Waltham Forest Feel Good Centre will have sessions at 4pm on Saturday and Sunday, Chingford Leisure Centre, at 6am on Friday and 1.30pm on Saturday, and Leytonstone Leisure Centre will have a session at 2pm on Sunday.
Daniel O’Connor, GLL Partnership Manager says: “We’re excited to welcome swimmers of all ages to our leisure centres for Swimathon 2026. It’s a fantastic way for the local community to get active, have fun, and support worthy charities.”
GLL’s head of sport and aquatics Andrew Clark said: “The best of luck to all our charity fundraisers in Swimathon’s 40th year. With over 1200 taking part, Swimathon 2026 could be the biggest challenge of its kind we’ve hosted in GLL pools.
“The world’s largest charitable funder of cancer research, Cancer Research UK, and the UK’s leading end of life charity, Marie Curie, as well as Swimathon Foundation will directly benefit from our fundraisers’ efforts. It promises to bring many people back to the pool and rediscover their love of swimming.”
For more information on registration, entry fees, rules, age limits, medals, certificates and more, please visit swimathon.org/about/faqs
No news is bad news
Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.
The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.
If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.
Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.
Monthly direct debit
Annual direct debit
£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.
More information on supporting us monthly or annually
More Information about donations
