2024/06/17
The "11th Charity Swim in Sagamihara" was held at the Sagamihara Green Pool in Kanagawa Prefecture, and ANA Group employees who gathered voluntarily participated.
The participants swam in a relay with athletes invited from the earthquake-stricken areas, talked about their own experiences of the disaster at the meeting place, and interacted with each other through swimming.
About Charity Swim in Sagamihara
This event began immediately after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011.
The purpose of this event is to pass on the memories and lessons of the disaster to the generations that did not experience it, and to share the gratitude of being able to swim, by having athletes living in the affected areas and athletes from various regions and ages swim in the same place. A portion of the participation fee is used to support reconstruction efforts.
One of the reasons for holding the first event 13 years ago was a photo of athletes from Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, writing and holding up one letter on a piece of paper per person in front of a collapsed swimming school, saying "Want to swim!!"
Mr. Soehata of the Sagamihara Swimming Association (current president of the association), who saw the scene in the news, decided to hold a charity event, saying, "If they want to swim, let them swim."
At the time, it was extremely difficult to even get to the disaster area due to the lack of gasoline, so he consulted with a bus company to arrange transportation from the disaster area to Kanagawa Prefecture, used the available space on the bus to transport relief supplies, and prepared an accommodation with public bath where the participants could stay overnight.
This year's event was triggered by a news report on a swimming school that was unable to practice due to damage to its pool caused by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January 2024, and 17 swimmers and staff from the school were invited to participate under the theme "#Save Noto Peninsula!"
On the day of the event
At the opening ceremony, six athletes invited from the areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, as well as athletes from Kanagawa Prefecture who were living in the affected areas at the time, shared their experiences of the disaster.
The hall was filled with silence as the audience listened to the situation and the thoughts and feelings held by each athlete, which only those who experienced the disaster could convey.
(Excerpts from the speech)
"There are many people who lost their lives in the earthquake even though they wanted to live. Life is irreplaceable."
"I was able to feel again the joy of being able to swim and that it is not a matter of course that I can swim now."
At the venue, posters created by athletes from Tohoku and messages of gratitude to supporters were displayed, and Noto athletes raised funds to rebuild the swimming pool.
The invited athletes from Noto told us, "I was very anxious because of all the earthquakes, but I was happy to be able to participate in such a big event and to swim in a large pool."
"We had a barbecue and camping (with athletes from Kanagawa and Tohoku), and it was fun to interact with so many people of the same age group."
For the children from Noto, who had been holding back from swimming and even socializing with their friends, this competition was a special experience.
Athletes and staff who participated in the charity swim
Mr. Saho from ANA Flight Operations Center
I went to high school right next to Green Pool, so I had participated in the event for three years, starting from the first event held right after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
I still vividly remember hearing about the situation of the earthquake and the tragedy of the damage directly from people close to my age at the time, and being fed up with my small power as a 16-year-old who wanted to do something to help, but could do nothing.
In the past, I have been involved in swimming competitively, but as I grew older and the competitive aspect of swimming faded a bit, I thought about the significance of swimming as a member of society and wished I could contribute to society in some way.
This time, in addition to having a special attachment to this event, we wanted to support the swimmers through swimming with those who had a desire to do something to help, so we recruited participants within the ANA Group, which also has a strong affinity with swimming (it has a sponsorship agreement with the Japan Swimming Federation).
This event started with a speech by a victim of the disaster. It was deeply moving to see everyone swimming through with the feelings they felt at that time, cheering with their voices shaking, feeling what they wanted to convey to each other, and smiling fulfilled smiles on their faces.
I felt that the most fascinating part of the event was the moment when everyone's thoughts and feelings were connected to the sense of unity of the entire event and changed from ''swimming competitively'' to ''swimming together''.
I also felt that it is important to prevent the memory of the disaster from fading and to provide what support we can in order to achieve a sustainable and early recovery.
We will continue to take on new challenges that only ANA can undertake.
Mr. Machida from Customer Sales Department, ANA Akindo Co., Ltd.
I entered the event after seeing the call for entries on the company's website. I had not swum in about 25 years, and as I was now past the age of 50 and had passed the halfway point in my life as a company employee, I applied with a sense of challenge, wondering what would happen if I did what I had done in the past and tried it now. Of course, the charity component was another motivation. Due to the recent spate of disasters, I had my own thoughts about the recovery efforts, and I also felt that there was something I could do, even if it was late, by swimming. When I actually swam, the results were terrible, far from the physical movements and times I had imagined beforehand ( lol), but more than that, I felt a great sense of exhilaration. Through participating in the event, I heard the real voices of the disaster victims and was touched by the messages from the organizers on the electronic bulletin board, which made me feel strongly about the early recovery of the disaster-stricken areas.
I have had very few chances to participate in charity events in the past.
I am so glad that swimming was an opportunity for me to participate in both a challenge to myself and for charity.
I hope we can find what we can do with our " uniqueness as ANA" as a weapon.
ANA Group has so far provided disaster relief for the Noto Peninsula Earthquake by offering donation miles (relief money), Noto recovery support discount, and Hokuriku support discount.
We will continue to contribute to local communities in various ways.
