British Olympic swimmer Keri-Anne Payne is the latest Olympian to enter the inaugural Great East Swim, which takes place at Alton Water near Ipswich this autumn.

The Great East Swim is a one-mile, open-water, mass-participation swim to be held on Saturday 26th September. Bronze medalist from Beijing, Cassie Patten has previously announced her participation.

It is part of the Great Swim, a series of similar mass-participation events open to swimmers of all abilities aged 16 and over that are taking place throughout the UK.

Payne said: “I finished second in the Great North Swim last year behind Cassie and really enjoyed it, so I’m really looking forward to the Great East Swim. Hopefully this time round I can take the honours.

“The event isn’t just for elite swimmers, though.  It’s perfect for leisure swimmers looking for a new challenge and charity fundraisers searching for different and quirky ways of raising funds.  I look forward to seeing everyone on the day.”

Over 700 people have already signed up to take part in the event, where waves of swimmers will be set off at intervals throughout the course of the day and the Great East Swim is set to become one of the biggest events of its kind in the country.

Further information, including entry details, can be found at www.greatswim.org
-Ends-

For more information please contact Caroline Holmes: caroline.holmes@nova-international.com or call 0191 226 3210, mobile 07894 386 688

Fancy the challenge? We have a limited number of media places available for the Great East Swim. For more information please contact Caroline Holmes as above.

ABOUT NOVA INTERNATIONAL
Nova International, established in 1988 and headed by Olympic Medallist Brendan Foster have established themselves as a market leader in the world of sports marketing and event management. The company’s current brand portfolio includes Great Run the world’s largest mass particpation running programme, based on the Bupa Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon with over 52,000 entries.

The last year has seen the company branch into different sports looking at new opportunities and new audiences. Taking the already proven mass participation formula of Great Run and relating it to the new discipline of swimming, Great Swim has been created. Four events being staged acoss the UK make up the series, which is the UK’s biggest mass particiaption open water swim programme.