by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Needed: lots of swimmers.
At a news conference Thursday, representatives from the City and community announced plans for an upcoming record-breaking event to be held at Cecil Recreation Aquatics Complex.
Organized by non-profit group Every Jacksonville Child a Swimmer, the May 20 event calls for 3,000 volunteers to participate in a 24-hour swimming relay. Each volunteer will be required to swim one pool lap pf 25 yards.
“We want this relay to raise awareness throughout the community that swimming is great exercise and a life-saving activity,” said Nancy Hogshead-Makar, an attorney and Olympic medalist-gold. “This is a fun, family event for swimmers of all ages and abilities that allows a large number from out community to be a part of a new world record.”
The current world record for the number of swimmers participating in a day-long event is 2,456.
Beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 20 and concluding exactly 24 hours later, Hogshead-Makar said the event will also raise awareness for a project that she and EJCS have been lobbying hard for for years.
“We have been trying to get an aquatics center here for long time,” she said. “With a high-profile event like this, we will be one step closer.”
That project garnered a fair amount of support during the final year of former Mayor John Delaney’s term in office. However, once Mayor John Peyton had arrived at City Hall, that public interest quickly waned.
“But (Peyton) is convincible,” Hogshead-Makar said. “He needs to see with his own eyes the community support and that the community is really asking for this.”