24hr Swim Series
A new venue
Our 24hr swim relays are for everyone. These swims attract every kind of swimmer to take part in a unique event while raising money for swimming lessons for disabled children.
How does it work? Swimmers put in teams of up to 8 and swim for an hour each, on rotation, for 24 hours. It’s not competitive, timed or a race in any way. You swim in your own way for an hour, as fast or as slow as you like. This event is about community, team spirit and sitting around a lake with your mates to have a good time.
We do all the work. We bring in our own team to run the event, water safety and medical. All you need to do is provide the space, help with marketing and to enjoy the weekend. You’ll receive a donation to the lake based on how many swimmers you help us sign up.
We're always looking for new lakes to run our unique 24hr swim relays at. However, it's difficult for us to get out on the road to find these magical spots. Which is why we're asking you to recommend your lake, or a lake you love, that might be interested in running an event.
Have a read through the rest of this page to find out if your lake is suitable, then fill in the form. Please give as much detail as you can about the lake. If we like it, we'll be in touch with you for more details and maybe arrange a recce to come and see it.
We won't be able to respond to everyone so make sure your application shows the lake in all its glory so it gives us no choice but to come out and look at it.
If your lake gets chosen and we run a successful 24hr swim relay there, you'll receive a very special gift from Level Water as a thank you.
If you have any question before you apply, please email Katie.
Application Criteria
Before applying to become a venue for Level Water to run a 24hr Swim Relay in 2025, please read all of the application criteria.
Read it through thoroughly, then give us as much detail as you can in your application. Be honest.
If you don’t think your lake meets certain criteria, all is not lost. Let us know what is missing, or what you’re not sure is right and we will look into it with you. We’ve helped other lakes find parking and camping area close by, so please always ask.
The key to success is your community. This is the main section we can’t help you with so please give us as much information as you can in your answers.
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We need to know as much as we can about your community before we can run a 24hr swim anywhere. It's your community who will make this event a success, and the effort you put in to engaging them.
How many members do you have? How big is your email database? Do you engage with them primarily via email, Facebook or Whatsapp? How many swimmers do you have, on average, at each session? How many other event do you run at the lake each year? Do you run any other charity events? If so, how much do your community raise?
The more detail here the better.
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In the first year, we aim for a minimum of 150 swimmers.
We want to work with lakes who have the ambition to grow the event up to 400 or 500 swimmers.
Understanding the space you have available, or can have access to, is critical when choosing where to run our events.
If you yourself don't have space. Worry not. Watersedge asked the farmer next door if they could use his field for more space and he was very quick to say yes. Think about your neighbours and who might be able to help.
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Just like camping space, having a large parking area is critical for this event to work. It's not just for the swimmers, but you'll have a lot of supporters coming along as well.
In the long term, think about a space for between 500 to 1000 needing to be available.
Lake32 didn't have a big enough area, so we approached the neighbouring business and they offered us a section of their parking area. Let us know if you don't have the space and we can help you find a solution.
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It's helpful for us to know how many other events you run at your lake.
We need to know where this event will sit within your event hierarchy, how often you promote them, are they run by yourselves or by a third party, how many participants do they have?
24hr Swim Series
What next
If your application is successful, we’ll book in a site visit to make sure your lake is suitable for a 24hr swim.
If it is suitable, we’ll arrange a date for 2025.
We’ll create a timeline together that will include key tasks, launch dates, marketing activity and milestones.
Level Water will then create the registration form, website and all marketing materials.
We’ll meet regularly to make sure we are on track with the agreed marketing plan and check in on participant numbers. It’s also a good opportunity to regularly think of new ways to promote the event.
Level Water will event manage the swim, providing our own water safety crew, medical team and staff.
Level Water will manage all of the participants in the lead up to the event. This includes any emails, calls or texts about the event and fundraising.
On the event weekend, our staff and volunteers will build, run and de-rig the whole event, hopefully with the support of you and your team.
Accessibility & Access
Our 24hr Swim’s are one of the most inclusive swim events in the world. They are for anyone over the age of 14 of any ability. On top of this, we do all we can to make sure all of our events are suitable for swimmers with additional needs.
At Level Water, we have brought together a group of disabled swimmers called the Events Access Advisory Committee (EAAC). They help us work with lakes to make sure the event is suitable for everyone, regardless of their ability. We’ll work with you to make sure the water entrance and exit is wheelchair accessible, that you have disabled parking and to help you identify any issue that needs to be sorted before we can run this event.
We need to make more blue spaces more accessible and these events are a wonderful way to show the difference that will make to so many people.
About Level Water
Current 24hr
Swim Relay Venues
Shepperton Open Water
West London
Just under 500 swimmers took part in our first event at Shepperton back in 2022. It’s grown year on year with almost £350,000 raised to date and a target to reach £500,000 raised from this amazing lake by 2025.
TriFarm Lake
Chelmsford, Essex
A brand new lake for 2024 in Essex after they’d taken part in our event at Box End the year before. A lake with huge potential, enthusiastic owners and a great location near London.
Lake32 Centre
Cotswold Country Park
A stunning location in the Cotswold, Lake32 welcomed 250 swimmers to their first event in 2023. We had a similiar number in 2024 and look forward to a long future of incredible events together.
Watersedge
Worcestershire
Brand new for 2024, Watersedge have a beautiful lake where we hope to have over 300 swimmers taking part in their 24hr Swim Relay. This lake has an incredibly engaged community and we can’t wait to see how much we can raise together.