Underprivileged families in St. David's will get some much needed assistance from funds raised by a local long distance swimming competition, to be held next week.

Proceeds from this year's annual Elan Round-the-Sound Long Distance Swimathon will go to the Coalition for the Protection of Children.

"We at the Coalition are just thrilled to have been chosen as the recipients," said Sheelagh Cooper. "The money will be used to help the women and children living in the emergency accommodations at Southside, St. David's. The money will be used to feed and clothe the children there and to help the mothers get back on their feet so that they will not have to continue to rely on handouts."

Over the last fourteen years, the Elan swimathon has raised as much as $250,000 for local charities.

"This is a great event, because it raises significant funds for charity," said Kevin Insley, President of Elan International Services, one of the event's major sponsors. "It is also good to get young and old into the ocean water and out of the pool."

The swimathon has several courses of different lengths and is designed for swimmers of all ages and aptitudes. The longest race is a 10 K from the Aquarium in Flatts to the Harrington Sound School dock off of Palmetto Bay. Beginning swimmers swim a small part of the race, 0.8 K. Other distances include 2 K, 4 K and 7.25 K.

Mr. Insley has swum the race for 11 years. He and another swimmer, Reeve Trott, are the only remaining members of a group called the Bermuda Open Water Swim Association (BOWS).

"I like to call myself the President," said Mr. Trott with a laugh. "I did the 10 K for eleven years and then I thought it was enough.

"Then I punctured a lung in August, and my wife said if I wanted to see my children grow up, I wouldn't swim the 10 K. So I'll be swimming a shorter distance this year."

Mr. Trott said the Coalition and the swimathon are a good match."We haven't always donated the money from the race to child-oriented groups, but it is a nice match because there are a lot of kids who do the race," he said.

The race is being organised by the Dolphins swim club. A dollar of every entry fee goes to the participant's swim club, if they belong to one.

Dolphins coach and chairman of the race, Michael Preuss, said the race is good for kids, because it gets them out of the pool and helps them get more comfortable swimming in open water.

Mr. Preuss will be swimming with his daughter, 11. She started at 800 metres and this year will be swimming the 4 K for the first time.

"Each year we encourage our students to swim a little further," said Mr. Preuss. "One of my students, Stephanie Miles, 12, will be swimming the 10 K for the first time. It will be good for her because she is a little nervous about swimming in the open water."

Mr. Preuss said this year would be good because there would be greater focus on families. There is a special $60 entry fee for families (as opposed to $25 per person) and there are more activities at the finish line, such as a fun castle, face painting, food and beverages. "There is a focus on the family side of things," said Mr. Preuss.

Mr. Trott said the race typically raises $10,000 to $12,000, but one year raised as much as $40,000 for the Pembroke Rest Home with the aid of a corporate sponsor that made a matching donation.

"It fluctuates," he said. "We want to emphasise that it is a fundraising event as well as a competition. We use to fight over what it was supposed to be. But we decided that the more people who enjoy it, it doesn't matter what reason they do it for. The combination of the charity and competition is a good one."

The event is run with the highest safety standards in mind, allowing people of different swimming abilities to compete.

"We average about 180 people in the water," said Mr. Trott. "That is a huge safety issue. This course is marked with buoys, for starters.

The swimmers don't cross the channel under the bridge. The race starts on one side and finishes on the other, so we are not swimming where the traffic flow would be for marine traffic."

Motorboats are put on anchor along the course. This lays the course out for the swimmers and buffers them from passing marine traffic. Typically, no swimmer would be more than 100 metres from a floating boat without the engine running. Those boats line up and then once the last swimmer passes the last boat, the last boat motors to the front of the line.

"They leap frog all day," said Mr. Trott. "Mixed in between the motorboats is the Kayak Association.

"They are actually in the water next to the swimmers. They can stabilise someone who is having a problem until we can get them to the boat. Most of the boats have a radio and there is a main radio at the finish line at Palmetto Bay. We have never had a problem, besides the occasional jelly fish sting."

All the starts are staggered so, technically, everyone finishes together at the end. There are closing point times. Although swimmers are encouraged to finish, if a swimmer is particularly slow, they may be pulled out of the water, to free up safety boats.

Participants are required to stop in at the various starting points. They are given water and Gatorade, and a wrist band that shows they stopped at that point. This is to discourage swimmers from skipping a dock to get ahead, and allows race officials to keep track of who is in the water.

"Over the years we have had different groups come from overseas come," said Mr. Trott. "This year we have a masters group coming from Tennessee.

The 10K is the shortest distance that is recognised as a long distance open water swim. Mr. Trott said the race has never had more than 200 entrants. "Maybe because of all the clever initiatives that we have taken up, maybe one day we will meet that number," he said.

Entry forms are at Dolphin club members, Sportseller, or at International Imports. Prizes and trophies are available, not only for the best times, but also for swimmers who raise the most amount of money in their age category. The Elan Round-the-Sound race is on October 17. The first swim starts at 10 a.m. Family fun is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The raindate is October 24.

For more information call 237-5999.