FOUR swimmers who swan a mile for Sport Relief last month have been rewarded for their efforts.

A total of 88 miles were swum in the Sport Relief challenge in Hambleton last month. A total of 50 of those miles were completed by children from eight schools in the district and the remaining 38 miles were swum by individuals.

Everyone who completed a mile was entered into a prize draw with a winner at each of Hambleton District Council’s leisure centres in Northallerton, Thirsk, Bedale and Stokesley.

Now four of them have been selected to receive £100 worth of swimming gear.

“Some of our swimmers were complete novices and found the challenge very tough but rewarding,” said Georgina Rutherford, community activator.

“One of them has lost two stone in weight since he started swimming four months ago at Northallerton Leisure Centre and is one of our most frequent Swimtag users – a swimming watch that keeps track of how far you are swimming.”

And one of the winners Dan Burgess from Thirsk added: “The Swim a Mile Swimtag challenge puts the fun back into swimming, instead of just swimming endless lengths, you have something to swim towards. After completing the Sport Relief challenge I couldn’t believe it when I saw that I had won a prize! I look forward to the next one!”

Hambleton is one of 12 councils across the country working with Sport England to encourage more people to use their local swimming pool. It has four swim activators working with target groups - men over 26, families, women and girls and the older generation.