‘Sailfish’ Dominates Swim Challenges

Tees Active regular swimmer Graham Box has been given the nickname ‘Sailfish’ due to his fantastic efforts in Tees Active’s recent swim challenges! Graham has won not one, not two, but four trophies for completing each challenge the fastest out of all participants across Tees Active’s four pools and he’s determined to win more!

For all of Tees Active’s swim challenges there is the opportunity to win a fantastic prize by simply taking part however on top of this a trophy is awarded to the fastest swimmer to complete the challenge! Since February Tees Active have ran four separate swim challenges using the swim training aid SWIMTAG, which is free to use in any of their pools and not only tracks lots of swim data, but also provides swimmers with the opportunity to push themselves further by easily taking part in regular swim challenges. SWIMTAG bands track a swimmers lengths, swim time, calories burnt, personal bests and much more every time a band is worn whilst in the pool. This information is shared with swimmers through the free SWIMTAG app and logged for any challenges and competitions swimmers choose to take part in.

Graham ‘Sailfish’ Box is a regular swimmer at Billingham Forum’s pool and an avid SWIMTAG user. “The first Tees Active swim challenge I took part in was the Tokyo Olympics challenge in 2021 and since then I try to do as many as I can. SWIMTAG is great, it takes seconds to pick up from reception and it really helps in terms of knowing where you are and monitoring improvements. It allows you to set your own ‘mini’ goals and Tees Active’s swim challenges allow you to push yourself to do your best.” Graham has already clocked up over 200 swims on SWIMTAG since he began using it and doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon!

Graham told us “in my youth I used to swim competitively but that stopped in my early teens. Then as we started coming out of lockdown I started swimming again as a means to try and get fitter and fit some regular exercise in my busy home/work life. Swimming is low impact on the body so anyone can do it and it’s my way of switching off from the world for 30 minutes a day. It refreshes me mentally as well as physically!”

We’re glad to hear that Graham is enjoying swimming again and is feeling both the physical and mental health benefits from taking part in regular exercise. We’re also glad that he is enjoying the swim challenges, he certainly looks happy with his trophies pictured below, however we are determined to push ourselves further and knock him off that top spot. So watch this space Graham!

Find out more about Tees Active’s upcoming swim challenges and SWIMTAG here.