Early this coming year, February 1st and 2nd to be exact, the Noosa Summer Swim will be held to put all you avid swimmers out there to the test – and people are going to pay you for it! Well, sort of. This mammoth endurance swimming event has grown to include two days of events to test the metal of anyone daring enough to step up and put pride on the line in any of the days events. But of course, the event isn’t just about glory and endurance, it’s also a chance to help make a difference to some young lives.

All entrants to the event will have the opportunity to start fund-raising for the Kids Cancer Project, an official partner in the World Series Swims events. The Kids’ Cancer Project is a national charity dedicated to supporting childhood cancer research. Kids’ get different types of cancer to adults and research is discovering more targeted and effective ways to help kids while minimising the long- term side effects treatment can bring. Twenty years since its inception, and the charity has raised over $30 million for various research project across Australia, and plans to continue to support these research efforts. Such research initiatives represent a serious and considered approach to fighting back, providing new treatment options and giving hope to the 950 children and young adolescents diagnosed each year.

So its all for a good cause, but what if you’re not the best swimmer? Well, luckily there’s an event for every skill level. Saturday consists of the lighter events, including the 2 and 1km adult events, as well as the ‘Junior Giants’ for 8-16 year olds. On the following day comes the huge 5k Noosa Grand Prix swim, which will consist of some of Australia’s most talented pool and open water swimmers competing over a multi-lap course through the waters of Noosa’s Main Beach, offering competitors a grand prize of $5000. Finally there’s a 1.5km ‘Social Swim‘. This event is a single lap of the Grand Prix course, but is a completely relaxed format and just for fun.

Overall it’s sure to be a great event, with a good cause and a fabulous community spirit. For those interested in the event, entries are open on their official webpage up on the World Series Swims website, along with a map of each course, as well as more information on the sponsor partners of the event.

You can find all of this, and more, here.