Cub set to raise roof with swim
Ivan Burt-Smith (8) who will be swimming 22 miles (1416 lengths) at Selkirk Swimming Pool to raise funds for a new roof for Selkirk Scout Group hall
SELKIRK Cub Ivan Burt-Smith is going to swim 22 miles to raise money for the town’s scout hall roof.
The eight-year-old of Murison Hill is going to swim the equivalent of the English Channel at the town’s swimming pool starting on Friday, January 25.
The money raised will go towards the estimated £25,000 needed to reslate the roof of the hall in Mill Street.
Proud Mum Jan said: “I think it’s amazing he’s doing this. He’s a very, very competitive little boy.”
She explained Ivan had seen an advert at the pool for a swimathon for another charity and said ‘I want to do that’ and decided, since the scout hall needed a new roof, he would do a marathon swim for that.
She said: “At its narrowest point the Channel is about 35.4km or 22 miles which is equivalent to 1,416 lengths of Selkirk swimming pool (25m per length). Ivan will swim three to five one hour sessions per week depending on how he can fit it around his homework and other activities.”
The Kirkhope primary schoolboy will swim between 50 and 55 lengths each session and hopes to complete his challenge in 24 hours, finishing on Tuesday, March 12 between 6.30pm and 7pm “so that people can come and cheer him on to the finish if they want to, ” said Jan.
The family – dad Graham, Jan, Ivan and his older sister Olga, 10 – had gone to London to watch water polo and fencing at the Olympics in the summer.
“Since then the children have been quite captured with everything involved with the Olympics, and swimming particularly, and Ivan came up with the idea of swimming ‘the Channel’ himself, ” said Graham.
“It’s a pretty big effort for an eight-year-old to be making.”
Ivan, who joined the swimming club this week, is going to the pool about three times a week in the run up of the start of his marathon swim.
Local cub leader and acting group scout leader Graham Coulson said of the plucky eight-year-old’s effort: “It’s fantastic, he obviously enjoys being a Cub Scout, so if he wants to do this, it’s great – and he’s done it off his own back.”
The local Scout committee is just getting under way with fundraising for the roof and also plans to apply for grants, Mr Coulson added.
Dad Graham said: “We really have no idea how much Ivan will raise. We would like to raise as much as possible. I think he’s going to be excited if he can raise anything.
“He’s really looking forward to it. He’s motivated by challenges. This is something that he’s decided to do and he’s really looking forward to actually doing it.”
Ivan also plays tennis, does judo and turns out for the town’s junior football club.
Selkirk’s Cubs, Brownies, Scouts and Beavers, and swimming club members will have forms for sponsoring Ivan.
Selkirk swimming pool is going to put details of Ivan’s swim on their Facebook page and regular updates are planned.
Otherwise supporters can send cheques made payable to ‘Selkirk Scout Group’ and marked with ‘Ivan’s Channel Swim’ and the sender’s name and address on the back, to Ivan’s Channel Swim, Selkirk Scout Group, c/o 1 Murison Hill, Selkirk TD7 5AP.
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Weather for Selkirk
Wednesday 22 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 3 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 5 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: North
