Cannonball and Floating Catwalk Challenge Added to 38th Annual Carl Oake Rotary Swim Fundraiser

The Rotary Club of Peterborough has added two fun activities, the ‘Cannonball’ and ‘Floating Catwalk’ Challenge, in addition to their swimming to fundraise for the 38th Annual Carl Oake Rotary Swim, announced at the Peterborough Lawn Bowling Club on Monday afternoon.

Various members and Rotary guess showcased swim attire to participate in the new events as an aternative to traditional swimwear. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The fundraising event is scheduled at the YMCA of Central East Ontario for March 1, beginning at 7 a.m.

The new activities for the annual fundraiser were added to allow those who cannot swim or provide an alternate activity to raise money for teams or individuals.

“Not everybody is a seasoned swimmer,” said Ken Seim, Rotary president-elect. “Some of the older groups that used to come out were having difficulty putting together a team and we thought, ‘let's change it up and make it more fun.’”

Participants can cannonball into the pool in the ‘Cannonball’ challenge or run across a tarp floating atop the water in the ‘Floating Catwalk’ challenge.

The Rotary Club presented a swim fashion show to promote wacky swim attire as an alternative to traditional swimwear like bikinis or shorts. A contest with prizes is being held for those who wear the aforementioned.

A goal of $45,000 has been set for fundraising efforts towards Rotary projects. Over $1.4 million has been raised to date.

“It’s our primary fundraiser and with that, we’re able to do our projects in town,” said Seim. “The Prince of Wales breakfast program, you heard about the international program that’s been done, Easter Seals Christmas party, work on the Rotary Trail, supporting stuff like the YES program, transitional housing and anew nurses station at Camp Kawartha.”

The public is encouraged to participate in the events as an individual or a team and can register online. Those registered will be assigned a fundraising page. The public can also donate directly via the website and receive an instant tax receipt.

Anyone can donate at any time online at the Rotary’s website.

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