The end of the year is round the corner but there's still a buzz in the water as people continue swimming to end finning. Ross Kelly of Co.Co Dive shares his experience of their first Finathon with Tenby International School.

This was Co.Co Dive’ s first Finathon and also a first ever in Sarawak, Malaysia. It was a cold and wet start to the day, we were at the dive shop at 5am collecting everything we needed for the day to ensure the children would be comfortable for their swim; masks, snorkels, fins and wetsuits.    As we arrived at the school it was pitch black the rain had let up slightly so we we’re a little happier. Joanna, from Project AWARE, had called the day before and promised me that the sun always shines for these events so my fingers were crossed.

I decided to wear a wetsuit as I was first in, however after the first few lengths I was sweltering and didn’t need the wetsuit. I also realised I was not as fit as I thought! As the sun began to rise I breathed a sigh of relief and knew Joanna was right and that it was going to be a perfect sunny day.   The morning continued with the Co.Co.Dive team swimming until 8am when the first of the Tenby Team arrived eager to join in and there was a real buzz around the pool. The youngest of our participants were Fred and Maggie, 4 years old, who were joined by their parents and siblings.  

Over half of the Year 1 class (5/6 year olds) arrived at 9am and started their swim along with their teacher Miss Hayley and some of the CoCo team helping with the weaker swimmers. The children were so excited and couldn’t wait to jump in. They loved it so much the initial 20 minute session they had signed up for turned into 90 minutes and they even encouraged some of their parents to jump in and get involved too!

The fins and mask snorkel sets became a big hit and the kids were so excited to spot the sharks, nemos and dolphins that were hidden around the bottom of the pool,   the bar for the most lengths was set early in the day by Philip Lagers, 5 years old, who set the target of 76 lengths in his time slot. We all watched in awe as he swam non-stop. A fantastic effort from him.    

Year one deserve a special thank you for their support for the Finathon. Leading up to the event they took part in a range of shark activities in school designing Save the Shark posters, poems and hats which were displayed on the day. Tenby School held a non school uniform day to help raise more money for the cause. Children were asked to come to school dressed as a shark and the results were extremely impressive. The school was a wash with great whites and hammerheads!

Thank you to the children and parents for putting in so much time and effort into these costumes, they were amazing.   At 9am we were also joined by 18 of the Gym Khana Club Miri Swim team who heard about our event and were very happy to join. After their 2 hour slot they were followed by 10 of the Curtin university swim team and Trevor and his Gym team from Warmongers Gym who swam from 11am-12pm   From 1pm to 3pm the pool was full of the Tenby School House Teams who were competing to see who could swim the most lengths during the 2 hours and win points for their allocated house team. Congratulations to the Cobras for swimming a total of 827 lengths and securing the points. 

There were some super swimmers who refused to get out of the pool and continued to swim for a further hour.  A huge congratulations to Pia, Sophie, Paul, Alban & Nonso for their effort on the day and for raising the most team sponsorship money of 1500 ringgit.   Throughout the day more students and teachers from Tenby School joined in increasing the number of lengths swam and more importantly the money raised.

The day finished off with the Co.Co.Dive team completing the final 2 hours. As 6pm approached and the sun began to set Jonathon Warner, the Tenby School Principal, was there to congratulate us on a successful day.   

I would like to say a massive thank you to all those involved and also our sponsors for their generous prize donations – Planet Scuba KL, Borneo Divers, Oceanic Quest Brunei, Rainbow divers Vietnam & Premier  Marine Scuba Kuching.     

The Finathon will be back at Tenby International School again next year and with the addition of the Tenby Dive Club. We will also be running Dive Against Debris events throughout all of next year, so for all those wanting to take part watch this space for details.

Check out the Thank You Video from Project AWARE to everyone involved!