This summer, some intrepid volunteers in Zurich and Geneva braved a bout of rather arduous conditions to jump in their respective lakes for a charity swim called Swim4Lémanhope to raise funds for Léman hope, which supports children with cancer.  

This was the second year UBP took part and the challenge’s popularity has grown: after the 30 colleagues who swam last year in Geneva, this year 45 signed up, and the distance increased from 44 km to 57 km, all the way to Lausanne. In Zurich, the turnout expanded from 8 to 11 swimmers for the 13 km stretch from Meilen to Zürichhorn.

In Zürisee in June, team members supported each other through both legs of the journey, with some even swimming twice in an exemplary team effort to cover the distance to Zurich. It was pretty windy at the beginning, which made the going quite tough at the start and pushed back the swimmers’ estimated arrival time but they kept going without getting discouraged and had a well-deserved celebration together upon arrival.

The Lake Geneva contingent faced properly grim weather right at the end of August: persistent, often heavy rain and quite a chill both in the air and in the water. Despite this, everyone showed true UBP-style commitment, dedication, and team spirit, turning up at the crack of dawn and staying positive, even cheerful, throughout both the days – and this was an achievement given that it was almost as tough standing on the boat in the rain as swimming in the lake! Perhaps spurred on by the prospect of getting dry as soon as possible, the Leman swimmers were very fast, arriving at their final destination over an hour ahead of schedule.

“I loved not only the physical challenge and the chance to meet colleagues I don’t see often and others I didn’t know yet, but also chatting with the crew and finding out more about the cause: the scheme really changes these kids’ lives by helping them get out of the mindset of a patient and back to feeling positive about the future, and this is great for their families too.”

Andrew Hazell, Change Governance Program Manager

The mission of the organising charity, Léman hope, is to support some 300 youngsters between the ages of 7 and 21 in remission from cancer every year in Switzerland by boosting their self-confidence through sailing experiences and other adventures. Swim4Lémanhope is a Switzerland-wide initiative to raise funds for Léman hope’s activities.

Watch this video footage, which includes some heart-warming testimonials from participants: