Siggy’s swimming challenge raises thousands for charity in just a few days
A FUNDRAISER who is attempting to swim a total of 21 miles in June and July says he is “overwhelmed” by the number of donations he has received so far.
Sigmund Danielsen, known to most as Siggy, has taken on the challenge to raise money for cancer support charity Macmillan.
Despite it being only the fourth day of June, the 33-year-old from Walls has raised more than £3,700 so far – propelling him to top of Macmillan’s swimming challenge leaderboard, which has nearly 3,000 participants.
It also marks a return to the swimming pool for Danielsen, who swum regularly in his youth and has the self-penned nickname Sig the Salmon.
Speaking to Shetland News, he also said it offers a chance to try to improve his own health too.
Danielsen explained that a few weeks ago he came across an advert for the Macmillan swimming challenge on Facebook.
“I thought ‘I could probably do that’,” he said.
“And I thought as well that if I did a fundraiser then it would maybe kickstart getting healthier myself.
“I thought about it for a couple of weeks, and just the week before, I thought ‘yeah – go for it’.”
He added that “I know, and everybody knows, people that’s dealing with cancer, had cancer, died of cancer – it’s a good cause to give to”.
Danielsen said he used to be a member of the swimming group the Northern Neesiks when he was younger.
This involved competing in competitions both in Shetland and also elsewhere such as Inverness.
“I was swimming pretty much every day then,” he said. “But I obviously took a big break.”
If he manages to complete the 21 miles quickly – he has managed around a mile a day so far, so you would not bet against it – then he is hoping to double it up and do 42 by the end of July.
Danielsen is mainly racking up the lengths at the Clickimin Leisure Complex in Lerwick, due to its longer opening hours, “but I was thinking to maybe go and share the love around some of the other centres”.
People can donate to the fundraiser here.
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