Dear Swimmers and the Splash Community,

It is with a heavy heart and a great deal of reflection that I write to you today.

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your patience. I know many of you have emailed regarding rollover procedures and towels; I am sorry for the delay in responding. I knew we needed to make a decision, but I didn’t want to rush into the wrong one.

The recent tragedy involving young Nico, who was taken by a shark very close to our swim course, has shaken our community. As a father of three young children myself, this hit incredibly close to home.

So close, in fact, that I have made the difficult decision to cease operations of the Sydney Harbour Splash at Rose Bay. While this hasn’t been an easy choice, I know in my heart it is the right one for me.

A Decade of Community
This event has been a "wild ride" over the last nine years, and that is thanks to you. Whether you’ve been with us from the start or joined us along the way, you have made a wonderful impact on this community.

There are a few people who deserve a special mention:

To Katie Sheds and her awesome volunteers, Nick Young and his Dementia Research Community team, and Elliot Frawley and the Easts Rugby boys and girls: We never would have made it to year nine without your tireless work and dedication.

To Lukey Harris from Harris Farm: Thank you for keeping us fuelled with delicious fruit every single year.

To Simon Wright from Macquarie Group: Thank you for backing us when we needed support to keep the dream alive.

To Woollahra Sailing Club (especially Dan, Martin, and Gay): You guys are absolute legends and have been the backbone of our operations.

To the Swimmers: Thank you for coming back year after year. We never ran this event for profit—no one in events really does. We did it for the love of the sport and to provide a great experience. The proof is in the towels; despite the massive expense, we insisted on providing them every year because we knew how much you loved them.

I am genuinely saddened that we didn’t quite reach the ten-year milestone, but we certainly gave it everything we had.

Next Steps and Logistics
While the event will not proceed, I want to ensure we handle the wind-down with the same integrity we brought to the races.

The Towels
We have towels we were supposed to gift you all when finishing so we would love for them to still go to you.

Local Collection: You can collect your towel from the Woollahra Sailing Club during business hours (8am-4pm) for two weeks beginning Monday, Feb 16th. Please bring a copy of this email or your original registration email as proof of purchase. We will also give you one of the special 10 year anniversary silicon caps we had made.

Interstate Participants: If you registered from interstate, I will personally mail your towel to you. Please respond within the next two weeks if you would like it sent.

Registration Fees
Our Terms & Conditions state that we do not offer refunds to protect the event's viability; however, we have no interest in profiting from an event that isn't being held.

If you would like 50% of your entry fee back, please email me directly within the next two weeks and I will process that for you as soon as possible. Please be patient with us, as this is a manual process.

Once all expenses are settled, any remaining funds will be donated to The Dementia Research Community. We will share the details and the receipt of the donation on our social media channels once it is finalised.

A Final Note Before we go
I want to highlight one of our special first time swimmers, Ella Martin. She is 13 and had "trained the house down" to swim her first 1 km with her mum on January 26. Although the swim was cancelled, she still completed her 1 km at Northbridge Harbour Pool and raised more than $2,500 for the Dementia Research Community. Well done, Ella, you’re awesome!

See Ella’s accomplishment here.

Thank you again for the last decade of support, energy, and community. It has been a privilege to swim with you.

Wishing you all happy and, above all, safe swimming.

Warmly,

Andy Reid & the entire Sydney Harbour Splash team