The SwimRVA New Year’s Challenge 2020 was a huge success! The annual year-launch event celebrates aquatics in the Richmond region, while also promoting a more active and safe new year.

The Challenge is inclusive to everyone. The event is intentionally produced to serve all levels of swimmers, from those that are beginners to those that are extremely skilled in the water. It is about everyone setting goals for the coming year. All who were a part of this year’s event helped propel aquatics in RVA forward.

Money raised from the event will go towards SwimRVA’s Learn to Swim program, which makes lessons accessible to under-served youth in the Richmond region. Last year’s New Year’s Challenge raised just over $7,000. This year the event raised a little over $11,000. The growth of the event reflects the progress being made toward the ultimate goal of SwimRVA, which is to give every second grader in our city the ACCESS to learn how to swim.

Many participants exceeded their own expectations by swimming further than their initial Challenge goal. The SwimRVA New Year’s Challenge format is repeating 100 yard swims on an interval.  The interval is designed so you have time to finish each 100 yard swim, get some rest and then start another.  Past participants have had goals of 3 x 100s up to 100 x 100s.  The measure of success is not how far you swim, but whether you reached your goal and set a new goal for next year.  The hope is that the New Year’s Challenge rejuvenates and centers each and every participant on the SUCCESS they will achieve in and out of the pool in 2020.

The overall goal total at the start of the 2020 Challenge was 4,292 (100’s), the overall achieved total at the end of the Challenge was 4602.5 (100’s). That means that participants swam a total of 460,250 yards, that’s 31,250 yards further than the initial goals set before the challenge, and a grand total of 261.5 miles. Many participants were inspired by surrounding swimmers, and the momentum from the events electric atmosphere propelled them to continue to Swim For It.

**MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR UPCOMING SWIMMING EVENTS HOSTED BY THE SWIMRVA HAMMERHEADS**

* Winter Open Water Program
* 10K Challenge
* Downriver Rip

CHECK OUT SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EVENT!