SWIMMERS are being encouraged to take part in a joint effort to get from Looe to Quiberon to replace the usual Looe Island Wild Swim.
This year would have been the fourth time the Chestnut Appeal and Looe Valley Rotary Club staged the Looe Island Swim to raise funds for research into men’s cancers.
As the event can’t be held, a virtual sponsored swim is taking place instead t to raise badly needed funds.
The idea is to get ’Sammy the Fish’ from Looe to twin town Quiberon – around 250 miles – and every mile swum by participants who sign up will be added to Sammy’s total to get him across the channel and down the coast of Brittany to his destination.
Sammy – aka Looe Valley Rotary Club’s youngest member, Sam Hunt - set off of the first of his own swims from Looe Beach on September 1 and the challenge will run until Tuesday (September 15).
The event is open to all, regardless of whether registered for the 2020 Looe Island Swim or not. But anyone who has registered will automatically have their entry deferred to 2021, and entry into the virtual swim will not affect this, say organisers.
The Looe to Quiberon swim is £10 to enter, of which £3 will go towards Looe Valley Rotary Charity Funds, £4 will go to the Chestnut Appeal and £3 towards the cost of the Looe to Quiberon Virtual Swim medal.
To find out more and sign up visit
All those taking part will receive a medal on completion of the swim to recognise their contribution to helping raise awareness of men’s health across the region. The Chestnut Appeal believes it is vital to get more men talking about their health and acting when they feel like something could be wrong.
Graham North, president of Looe Valley Rotary Club, said: “Prostate cancer awareness is close to my heart and I am grateful to Sammy the Fish (our youngest member of the club) for volunteering to spend September navigating from Looe to Quiberon (or even beyond) to help this cause. We hope this initiative will spread beyond those who have already participated in the annual swim so that we can increase awareness even more and deliver the greatest level of support for what is an extremely worthy cause.”