Six Elizabeth College students are aiming to swim 10,000 metres over three hours at next weekend’s Sure Swimarathon.

Oliver Horton, Xander Barnes, Jem Bishop, Jack Mancini, Tom Hutchinson and Sam Berry have all taken part in the event, which is organised by the Round Table and Lions Club, before but this year instead of swimming for the usual one hour, they will swim for three from 6pm until 9pm next Friday.

“We have always enjoyed taking part in the Swimarathon and decided that this year we wanted more of a challenge,” said Oliver, who did last weekend’s Castle Swim as part of his preparation.

The Year 10 students, who are all 14, have been practising in Elizabeth College’s swimming pool and hope to swim 200 laps or 400 lengths of Beau Sejour’s pool. They are allowed a two minute break every hour and plan to drink energy drinks to get them through the three hour session.

They have already collected £150 in sponsorship and hope to double that by next weekend.

Brian Allen who is in charge of swimming at Elizabeth College said that none of the boys attended swimming clubs.

“They are just genuine lads who want to help. Off their own backs, they have come up with the idea and we wish them lots of luck,” he said.

Elizabeth College will be entering 15 other teams throughout the weekend.

“We have a long-standing history with the Swimarathon, as do many schools across the board. It’s a social event as well as an opportunity to raise money and we’re all looking forward to taking part in what is a lovely weekend,” said Mr Allen.

Chairman of the Sure Swimarathon organising committee Jeff Kitts said he was delighted with the support from the schools.

“The schools have always been an integral part of the Swimarathon and we have organised the Sure Swimarathon at Large on the Friday morning at St Sampson’s High to make sure there is enough room for all the teams. We’re delighted that Elizabeth College has entered 16 teams and even more impressed that one of those teams has set themselves the challenge of swimming for three hours. We’ll be keeping a close eye on their lap tally and hope that they can beat their target,” he said.

“Spaces are filling up fast but with a week to go, we still have some spare times and would love to hear from businesses, clubs, pubs and any other organisations who might like to get a team together.”

The Sure Swimarathon takes place from 9th to 11th October 2009 and half of the money raised will go to Guernsey Cheshire Home. Entry forms are available from Beau Sejour, Sure’s shop in the High Street and Cable & Wireless offices in Upland Road and at Centenary House. Further information and entry forms are also available from www.swimarathon.org.