Supported by our friends at Kap7

Online registrations have now closed, Last minute registrations available before events begin.

Distance: 1km or 2km

Start Time: 7am

Date: 11 February 2023

Location: Manly Cove Beach

Swim will be run in age groups waves.

1km starts at 7am.

2km starts at 8am.

A fun way to try water polo and hang out with friends in the sun.

Start Time: 10am

Date: 11 February 2023

Location: Manly Cove Beach

Games and finals will all take place on the same day, kicking off at 10am.

All Beach Festival Registrations close at 5pm on Friday 10 February 2023.

Last minute registrations will be available up to 30mins before events start.

BOBBY GOLDSMITH MEMORIAL SWIM FUNDRAISING

We would love to encourage you to fundraise for our partner, Bobby Goldsmith Foundation (BGF), to help them support people living with HIV. The team at BGF are there to provide you with any support you need with your fundraising!

The BGF can offer:

• Lots of tips and ideas to make sure fundraising is easy and fun!
• Access to the BGF team, via phone or email, who can support you every step of the way.
• An online fundraising page ready to update and share with your friends and family to collect donations.
• Fundraising resources including a fundraising guide, posters, social media tiles and email templates.
• Fundraising inspiration and information on HIV to help you raise awareness delivered to your inbox.

If you are interested in fundraising for BGF and would like to hear from the team about kick starting your fundraising, please click on the “FUNDRAISING REGISTRATION” button below. 

We wish you the best of luck with your fundraising and thank you for your support!

ABOUT BOBBY GOLDSMITH

Bobby Goldsmith was an Australian athlete and active member of the gay community in Sydney. He was a charming and open person with an excellent sense of humour. Bobby was particularly fond of opera, going to nightclubs and dancing and he regularly travelled overseas. Bobby was a keen recreational swimmer who, at the inaugural Gay Games in San Francisco in 1982, won 17 of the Australian team’s 21 medals. His medals included 4 gold, 11 silver and 2 bronze. At the games, Bobby participated in all four strokes plus the individual medley. His gold medals were for the 100- and 200-yards butterfly and the 400- and 800-yards freestyle events, all the 36 – 45 age categories.

Bobby was one of the first Australians to die from an AIDS-related illness. That was in June 1984, when Bobby was just 38 years old. Bobby was admitted to hospital when he was first diagnosed in 1983. Hospitals were daunting places for people with what was then a strange, new disease. Bobby’s many friends got together to find a way of giving him the love and care he needed to stay at home. They organised a fundraising event at the Midnight Shift on Oxford Street and the money raised at this event was used to buy a commode, a video player so he could continue to watch opera and a support mattress to enable him to remain at home rather than in hospital. They wanted to make his last weeks as comfortable as possible. Bobby died with dignity, at home, where he wanted to be. After his death, Bobby was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the sea between Bondi and Tamarama – one of his favourite spots to swim.

Bobby and his friends established the important precedent of providing support and services for people living with HIV. If direct support could be provided for one person, it could be done for many. Bobby Goldsmith Foundation is a legacy of that dedicated group of friends – a legacy born out of love for the man Bobby Goldsmith, which has now continued for over 38 years and will hopefully continue well into the future.