Among the many local swimmers taking part were Sue Mulhern, Tommy Bradley, Richard Timms all from the Ballymoney area and Gordon Wildman from Portstewart. The four swimmers covered a total distance of 5km each, or put another way 200 lengths of the 25m pool.

Gordon known in the triangle area for his swimming teaching work with Coleraine Leisure Centre set off on his challenge and unusually encountered cramp early on in the swim but this didn't stop him from pushing on to complete the 5km swim in a time of 2hrs. 08mins.

Sue who is a Centre Attendant at Coleraine Leisure Centre swam very strongly and consistently well completing the 5km distance in 1hr.48.55. It was good training for Sue who will be competing in a number of triathlons this year.

Tommy a 3 times triathlete ironman and marathon runner does the Swimathon every year and also works as a Centre Attendant in Coleraine Leisure Centre. Tommy's time was 1hr.38.03, which was much faster than last year.

Finally, Richard who runs his own swim school and is a member of the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association is often better suited to swimming in the colder temperatures of the open sea and in-land lakes managed to finish his 5km challenge in a time of 1hr.32.02.

The four swimmers would like to thank the Joey Dunlop Leisure Centre in Ballymoney for hosting the event as well as the centre staff, family and friends who took the time to count lengths for them.

But final recognition must go to all of those who took part in this national charity event at a local level and who completed their own individual BT Swimathon Challenge for 2008; it's a magnificent personal achievement, and so well done for raising so much money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.