SWIMMERS swam thousands of lengths of Felixstowe’s pool and dancers boogied all night to raise more than £5,000 for the St Elizabeth Hospice.

Ipswich Star: The Ceroc Fusion danceathon taking place at Felixstowe Leisure Centre as part of the Channel Challenge charity event.The Ceroc Fusion danceathon taking place at Felixstowe Leisure Centre as part of the Channel Challenge charity event. (Image: Archant)

Organisers were thrilled with the success of the event, and are now planning an even bigger and better one for next year.

Olympic gold medallist and former world number one breastroke swimmer Adrian Moorhouse, 48, also took part, swimming alongside both relay team members and individual swimmers trying to swim the distance of the English Channel.

Three relay teams took part with the seven-strong Felixstowe Waves swimming club meeting the challenge in around eight-and-a-half hours and becoming the first holders of the Griff Rogers Memorial Trophy.

Of the individuals, only Nick Rogers, 50, a former Channel swimmer in his younger days, managed to compete the 1,401 lengths – the 22 miles from Dover to Calais – of the main pool at Felixstowe Leisure Centre.

He started at 6pm and swam through the night, finishing at 7.30am.

Seamus Bennett managed 800 lengths before having to pull out with a shoulder injury, while triathlete Katie Higgon did more than 1,000.

Dancers took part in a Ceroc Danceathon led by Ceroc Fusion with dance classes throughout the night.

Mr Rogers, one of the organisers of the event, said: “It was a really memorable all-nighter – the place was buzzing.

“We certainly want to do it again next year and make it bigger, with many more individual swimmers and hopefully 20 to 24 relay teams, and we will be talking to the leisure centre and swimming clubs about how we might do it, and raise even more money.”