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
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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.

British Swimming’s Mark Perry has been awarded an iconic Blue Peter badge after lending his Open Water expertise to two of the show’s presenters.

Perry, British Swimming’s Open Water Performance Manager, has been coaching Blue Peter presenters Joel Defries and Helen Shelton as they train to take part in the Bosporus Swim in Turkey this summer.

The two have been training hard and following Perry’s instructions over the phone and via post as they prepare to take part in the Open Water swim for Blue Peter’s Summer Expedition.

Perry commented: “For a high profile show like Blue Peter to get involved is great for the sport. Hopefully young swimmers will see Helen and Joel give Open Water swimming a go and want to try it themselves.

“Following on from the Olympics and the excellent results we’ve had in Open Water recently British Open Water swimming is continuing to develop.”

Defries and Shelton will take part in the Bosporus Swim on 19^th July which sees participants swim 7km down the centre of Istanbul, with swimmers starting in Asia and ending in Europe.

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For more information please contact the ASA/British Swimming Media Assistant, Lauren Sanderson on 01509 632236 or email lauren.sanderson@swimming.org

British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain.  It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (ASA), Scotland (Scottish ASA) and Wales. (Welsh ASA)  British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

About British Gas
British Gas, the biggest energy supplier in the country, has the lowest carbon intensity of any of the major UK energy suppliers in terms of tonnes of CO2 emitted per megawatt hour of electricity supplied to customers.  The company is one of the biggest investors in renewable power generation, principally offshore wind. Its recently completed Lynn and Inner Dowsing development, off the Lincolnshire coast, is the UK's largest offshore wind development. British Gas is committed to energy efficiency.  Our Energy Savers Report provides free expert advice on how you can cut energy use in the home and, in turn, save money.  So far, the report has shown over 2 million people how they could make an average saving of £175 a year.  To complete a report go to www.britishgas.co.uk/energy-efficiency/energy-savers-report

About Speedo®
The world’s leading swimwear brand, Speedo® is passionate about life in and around the water, creating revolutionary new technologies, designs and innovations. Supporting swimming from grass-roots through to elite level, including the phenomenal Michael Phelps, Speedo® is owned by Speedo Holdings B.V and distributed in over 170 countries around the world; SPEEDO, the ARROW device, FASTSKIN, LZR PULSE, SPEEDO ENDURANCE, FLIPTURNS, FASTSKINFSII, SPEEDO BIOFUSE, SWYM and LZR RACER are registered trademarks of Speedo Holdings B.V. The LZR RACER suit has worldwide design rights and patents pending.

About Kellogg's
The Kellogg Company was founded in 1906 and today produces 40 different cereals including popular brands such as Special K, Cornflakes and Coco Pops, and 56 different snacks including brands such as Nutri-Grain and Special K snacks. Kellogg's has been a partner of the ASA and British Swimming for 13 years, sponsoring the Kellogg's ASA Awards and enabling over 50,000 people to take up swimming as part of an active lifestyle.