Gold Coast from 4th - 15th April 2018.
In the run up to the 2016 Olympics, we created the "Swim Rio" Challenge and over 1600 SWIMTAG users entered. With the Commonwealth Games only a few months away, we've set up a similar swim, starting at the Carrara Stadium (where the athletics will be held) and finishing at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre. The total distance is just over 16km.
We're holding this challenge back (to ensure that nobody is able to complete it prior to it being launched) and we're recommending that you run the challenge from 1st - March until 4th April, which is the date of the opening ceremony (although the dates are not set in stone so the challenge can be done earlier or later if required).
We hope the challenge will give you a great opportunity to engage with your swimmers in the run up to the Commonwealth Games! Because the challenge hasn't been loaded on to the website, you won't see it on the list of challenges in the SWIMTAG Operator Panel. If you would like the challenge to be set up at you pool(s) please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Westwoods Lead the Way in Charity Challenges
After two successful challenges in aid of Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres, which raised £6000 and £7500, they are now raising funds for Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS) with a 15km virtual swim between Edinburgh's three main hospitals, with the cash raised going to fund stroke rehabilitation nurses at the CHSS rehabilitation centre.
Staff and members from Westwoods have already been featured in the Edinburgh Evening News and 31 people have already registered to take part in the challenge.
Business Development Manager at 222 Sports Colin Scott said "The team at Westwoods have been fantastic at using the SWIMTAG Challenge feature to get more people swimming more often. They run lots of fun challenges throughout the year, but they also take time to try and support local charities which is even better".
Ross Whittaker, Duty Manager at Westwoods said "The support offered by the team at 222 Sports is fantastic. They are happy to map out any route we ask them to and they really help us to make the most out of SWIMTAG's features. When a challenge is set up, emails and notifications go out to all of our SWIMTAG users automatically, which means that all we need to do is back it up with a littlie bit of social media and in house promotion to ensure the challenge is a success. It makes the whole process really easy and it gives us a great opportunity to generate positive PR for the club".
SWIMTAG Comes to Hambleton
Hambleton Leisure in North Yorkshire have installed SWIMTAG at all four of their swimming pools.
SWIMTAG will be available to users from 1st November at Bedale Leisure Centre, Thirsk And Sowerby Leisure Centre and Stokesley Leisure Centre. Hambleton Leisure Centre in Northallerton which is currently undergoing a significant refurbishment, will also have SWIMTAG available when the pool area reopens in a couple of months time.
Business Development Manager Colin Scott said "We are delighted that Hambleton Leisure have chosen SWIMTAG for all four of their pools. With the refurbishment of Hambleton Leisure Centre also happening at the same time, you can see how hard they are working to get more people active and we look forward to helping them increase the number of swimmers using their pools. The teams at all the sites were very enthusiastic and excited about the impeding launch of SWIMTAG so I'm sure they'll be great at promoting it's use to users across the district."
SWIMTAG signs up Varioplay as Distributor & Installs at 3 Dutch Sites
We are delighted to announce our new distributor Varioplay for SWIMTAG in Belgium, the Netherlands an Luxembourg (Benelux).
. At the beginning of September we installed SWIMTAG into 3 beautiful pools operated by Optisport who operate 350 sites in 75 municipalities in the Netherlands and Belgium. The installations were fully supported by the KNZB (Royal Dutch Swimming Federation) who are national governing body for Swimming in The Netherlands acting as a partner to Optisport.
The initial installation sites for Optisport include Sloterparkbad in Amsterdam, Veenweidebad in Mijdrecht and Sportboulevard in Dordrecht. The sites have installed Club SWIMTAG hardware, Lane Displays and digital signage screens to promote the live leader boards, competitions and challenges.
222 Sports Managing Director Kieran Sloyan said “As leading organisations we are delighted to be working with both Varioplay and the KNZB in The Netherlands. Optisport are forward thinking and proactive operator and we believe the first installations in The Netherlands will demonstrate the positive impact SWIMTAG has on motivating swimmers and increasing pool usage.”
Universities Take on SWIMTAG
SWIMTAG has been installed within the Sports Centres the University of Birmingham and the University of East Anglia.
Both sites have large 50m pools and give access to members of the public as well as staff and students.
The University of Birmingham have invested a total of £55m in their new centre which opened in time for the start of the new University year.
UEA's Sportspark was opened in 2001 and it's Olympic pool is named after the famous Turkey Farmer Bernard Matthews who contributed to the cost of it's construction.
222 Sports Business Development Manager Colin Scott said "We are delighted to have two more prestigious universities using our technology. They join a number of other universities such as University College Dublin, The University Of Sheffield, De Montford and Oxford Brookes, who successfully use SWIMTAG to inspire students and community members alike to swim more. Usage at both sites has been great with the University of Birmingham in particular looking like they are going to become one of our busiest sites".