All-night swim aims to raise $100K for autism

Scarborough will be home to an all-nighter of a different kind this weekend, and City of Stirling employees at the Scarborough Beach Pool are going all-in for the event.

The popular beachside pool will host the annual Ocean Heroes 24-hour swim on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 April, with swimmers lapping around the clock to raise funds for autism.

Mayor Mark Irwin said a number of the City’s Stirling Leisure Centres – Scarborough Beach Pool employees were set to take up the challenge to swim in shifts through the night.

“Because the City has a team of 10, the total swim time is only a few hours each per person, but that does not take away from the endurance that will be required,” he said.

“Each staff member has their own reasons for wanting to get involved, but an overarching drive to be a part of this fantastic event is that it will raise money for a great cause.

“Seeing the event run here previously introduced many of us to the amazing work that Ocean Heroes do for the community and our staff saw it as something they could and wanted to contribute to.

“Getting the team together was easy given the amazing opportunities and free surfing events Ocean Heroes provide for the autism community around Western Australia throughout the year.”

The program assists children with autism in developing self-confidence and making genuine connections with others.

Ocean Heroes Co-Founder Sam Moyle said this was the third year the major fundraising event was running, and the first time the entire lap pool would need to be closed to facilitate the event.

“We are very thankful to City of Stirling for the support in having exclusive access to the lap pool for the event this year,” he said.

“We hope to raise around $100,000 towards continuing our free events program.

“We’re lucky enough to have some of our participants on the spectrum swimming some laps in the non-competitive Ocean Heroes Gromenators team. It’s fantastic to see those who benefit from our free programs being part of our big fundraiser.”

This year the event will run from 4.00pm Friday 21 April until 4.00pm Saturday 22 April, and those wishing to donate to this cause can visit https://oceanheroes.com.au/.

The Scarborough Beach Pool lap pool will be closed to the public for lap swimming during this time to cater for the event. The leisure pool, which is a family favourite, will remain open to the public as per normal operating hours.

Pictured: City of Stirling team members - (Top L-R) Luke Smoothy, Ellen Gastevich, Andrew Warnock, Alex Parker. (Bottom L-R) Liv Smith, Claudia Holt, Caitlin Anthony and Kaila Warner.