by Kent Jennings Brockwell
Staff Writer
In an effort to raise awareness for swimming and support for a new world-class aquatic center in Jacksonville, a group of local swimmers is organizing a Guinness World Record attempt in swimming.
Attorney Nancy Hogshead-Makar, retired building products dealer Rogers “Tiger” Holmes and Judge Charlie Cofer, co-founders of Every Jacksonville Child a Swimmer, are trying to round up at least 2,500 local swimmers to attempt the world record for the biggest continuous relay swim. The current record is 2,456 swimmers in 24 hours but organizers say they are confident that EJCS will recruit more than 3,000 for the attempt.
The event, which is scheduled for May 20, is being held at the Cecil Recreation Complex Aquatics Center. In order to break the current record, each swimmer needs to swim one length of the pool, which is 75 feet, without flotation devices and the relay must be continuous with no break in the swimming.
“There are so many groups in town that are interested in this,” said Judge Cofer. “We are trying to get all of those groups to participate.”
Though not a swimmer himself, Cofer said the group has already recruited lots of swimmers from the Navy and some Masters swimmers for the feat.
Hogshead-Makar, an Olympic swimming champion and professor at Florida Coastal School of Law, said though having a world record in Jacksonville would be nice, the event’s main focus is to raise support to build a new aquatics center downtown.
“We have been trying to get an aquatics center built here for a long time,” she said. “With this event, we will be one step closer.”
The struggle for a new swimming complex dates back several years but Hogshead-Makar said EJCS is closer than ever at this point. She said the group has already drawn up plans for the project so all they need now is to get the legislators and the mayor on the same page.
“(Mayor John Peyton) is convincible,” she said. “He needs to see with his own eyes the community support and that the community is really asking for this. We already have several members of the legislature that are very supportive.”
Though it would mainly be used by local groups and individuals, Hogshead-Makar said the proposed aquatics center would be built as a major downtown sports complex that would host local, national and international swimming competitions.
“The number of people involved in competitive swimming is enormous,” she said. “The bulk of the people that come to the competitions aren’t the swimmers. They are the families and supporters. This would be another great opportunity to show off the city of Jacksonville.”