Taunton's annual Swimathon winners were presented with trophies by the Mayor of Taunton after raising £9,000 for charity.

The 33rd Swimathon, organised by Taunton Soroptimists in partnership with Taunton 41 Club and Taunton Round Table, took place in February, with the winners presented with their awards earlier this month by the Mayor of Taunton, Councillor Nick O'Donnell (now former Mayor).

The event raised an impressive £9,000 for Young Somerset, Ups and Downs South West and Somerset Counselling Centre. Cllr O'Donnell also presented cheques to the chosen charities.

Over the 33 years that the Swimathon has taken place, £676,046 has been raised and donated to 80 Somerset charities.  The event took a four-year break due to Covid-19 but was successfully relaunched this year.

Taunton Soroptimists said: "The final amount raised this year was a fantastic £9,000 and this was given to three charities Young Somerset, Ups and Downs South West and Somerset Counselling Centre, each receiving £3,000. This brings the total raised over the 33 years that the Swimathon has taken place to £676,046.

"It was great to be able to hold the event again after a four-year gap due to covid and we are already planning next year's event which will be held over the weekend of 15th and 16th February 2025 at Taunton School. 

"We are grateful to Taunton School for kindly agreeing to host the event again for us and we are confident that next year's event will be bigger and better than ever.  Although this year's event was a bit smaller than some years, while we get the word out there that we are back, the enthusiasm of the teams was just as great as ever and so many people told us how pleased they were that the event was being held again."

The trophy winners were:

  • The Soroptimists Plate Trophy for the Team swimming the most laps and the Adrian Nicholson Strongvox Trophy for the Under 13s Team swimming the most laps - TDSC Duo - 85 laps
  • The Western Power Distribution Shield for the team swimming the 2nd highest number of laps and the Soroptimist Anniversary Trophy for the Non-Swimming Club Team swimming the most laps - Team Sanch 1 - 84 laps
  • The Taunton Chamber of Commerce Trophy for the Chamber Members Team swimming the most laps - Shark Willmott - 67 laps
  • The Taunton Times Family Cup for the Family Team swimming the most laps - Willarts - 59 laps
  • The Westbury Homes Trophy for the most money raised by a single team and the Masons Arms Trophy for the over 60s team raising the most money - Soroptimist Swans - £1,165
  • The Milsted Langdon Challenge Cup for the 1st time entrants raising the most money and the Clarke Willmott Trophy for the legal team raising the most money - John Hodge Swimmers - £1,062
  • The Accountants Trophy for the Accountancy Team raising the most money - Pick 'n' mix - £194
  • The Soroptimist Family Cup for the Family Team raising the most money - Moss Fam - £513"