THE Ewers family plans to make a splash at the 2017 Swim Thru Perth this month.
This year the event, which has a 105-year history, will include four distances – 5km, 2.5km, 1.25km and 250m – on Sunday, January 22 in Matilda Bay, and for the first time, forms part of Swimming WA’s Open Water Swim Series.
Cameron Ewers, director of first-time event partner Pure Leasing Central, will compete and bring his seven-month-old son Kip to the new 250m Try It event, which is open to people of all ages and swimming abilities.
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READ NOW“I was always into swimming but got back into it in the last five years,” he said.
“I had not swum for a long time before that; I was playing rugby throughout the winter and I almost broke my neck and tore ligaments off two of the vertebrae and couldn’t play rugby anymore.
“One of the things they said I should do is start swimming again as part of rehab but also because it is non-contact and to strengthen muscles.”
The five-time Rottnest Channel Swim participant said his wife was also a swimmer and the couple had just installed a pool at their Subiaco home.
“We are raising a water baby; Kip was down at the beach for a week while we were down south,” Mr Ewers said.
Proceeds from Swim Thru Perth will go to the WA Disabled Sports Association.
Primary school-aged entrants of the Try It event can nominate their school on entry and the school with the most participants on race day will win $250 towards new sporting equipment.
To register for the event, go to http://www.swimthruperth.org.
This year is the 98th Swim Thru Perth. The first event was held in 1912 and has only been interrupted by the two World Wars and a polio epidemic.