FAQs

The Big Spring Swim is a distance swimming challenge taking place from 1- 30 November 2023. You have 30 days to make a splash and complete your chosen distance in support of WaterAid Australia.

There is a level to suit everybody: you can cover either 6km (equivalent to 8 laps of a standard 25m pool), 15km (20 laps a day) or 30km (40 laps a day) across the month.

It is a virtual event, so you go at your own pace and organise your swims however you like throughout the month.

Choose your distance, register to create a fundraising page and get swimming to clock up those laps between 1-30 November! You choose how and where you complete your swims to cover either 6km, 15km or 30km over the month of November. You can make a splash in the pool or tackle the open water. Or a mix of both. You can go at your own pace and swim as frequently as you wish. The most important thing is to enjoy the water, feel the health benefits and complete your distance to raise money for the 1 in 10 people who do not have clean water close to home.

You are almost there – click sign up and fill in your details.

When you register your fundraising page is automatically created. With that page you can keep track of your activity, team and your funds raised.

It’s free to register and participate in the Big Spring Swim.

This is your swim challenge, so it's completely up to you how often you swim to complete your chosen distance- whether you want to break it down into frequent shorter swims or take on longer distances. It will help to make a plan of when and where you plan to swim across the month to achieve your distance goal.

There are lots of useful online resources available to help you prepare for your swims and make a plan before you start to help you reach your distance goal.

Ocean Swims is an online network of over 60,000 open water swimmers in Australia. The website offers lots of free training advice on swimming outdoors, as well as a directory of local outdoor swimming clubs and information about in person swims.

Speedo Australia have a handy online tool that lets you customise a swim workout based on your fitness level, the distance you want to work towards and whether you want to use swim equipment.

However you decide to reach your distance, just make sure you're being realistic for your level of fitness. Stay safe and always check conditions with your local lifesaving club before heading out if you are swimming in the ocean. Never do an outdoor swim alone and make sure you swim between the flags.

Yes! If you want to form a swim squad and take on the Big Spring Swim as a relay over a weekend, or you just want to swim and fundraise together with others throughout the month, go for it. You can set up a fundraising team when you register and invite others to join you using a link.

You can create a team as you register for the Big Spring Swim. This means each team member will have their own individual fundraising page, but they will be linked to a team page to show the total you have all raised together. After you fill in your personal details, you have a choice to create your own team- or join an existing team.

When you create a team, you will be automatically designated Team Captain. As Team Captain, you can invite others to join your team. You have the option to show your team as 'open to public', meaning anyone can join your team or 'private', meaning only invited people can join your team.

To join a public team simply click on the "Join Us" button on the teams fundraising page. If a team is set to 'private' usually the team captain will send out an invitation to join that team or you will need to ask the team captain to send you an invite.

There are no limits. You can do this challenge on your own or invite as many friends, family, swim club members or work colleagues you like. Together you will work towards your overall team goal and target.

Each of you will manage your own personal fundraising account, where you can track your distance and fundraising, but everyone’s tally will be added up and combined on your team page.

The donations you have raised through the Big Spring Swim go straight to WaterAid Australia and help support communities in Cambodia, Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea access clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

There are a few ways you could keep track of your challenge:

· You can use a waterproof smart device like a FitBit or use an app like Strava linked to a waterproof smartwatch to track your distance automatically. You can also manually add an activity to Strava (or similar fitness apps) every time you swim. If you use FitBit or Strava, you can link these directly to your fundraising page, log your swim distance and keep your sponsors up to date with your progress.

· If you don’t have a smart device and prefer to keep track manually, you can still log your distance for each swim to share your progress. Simply login to your online fundraising page and head to the ‘My Fitness Activity’ and follow the prompts to record your activity manually. This helps to keep you motivated and let your sponsors know you’re getting on!

· Keep notes with a good old fashioned pen and paper! You can then update your fundraising page with comments letting your sponsors know where you’re at with your challenge.

However you track your swim challenge, make sure to share your progress with your friends and family so they can cheer you on!

All donations of $2 or more are tax deductible for Australian tax payers. If the donor receives something material in return for their money, such as a raffle ticket, a ticket for a movie, a dinner or auction item, these contributions are not tax deductible.

To reset your password, click the Forgot Password link on the login screen and follow the prompts.

If you are still unable to log in then contact us via email at supporter.services@wateraid.org.au call 1300 858 022 and we can reset your password for you.