Join our sponsored swim and help make the biggest splash for whales and dolphins!
It doesn't matter how far or fast you can swim, or what stroke you use.
You can swim alone or get together with friends, family, colleagues or your club.
Choose from one of our Dolphin, Whale or Pod distances or find your own from facts in our species guide.
NB. All our distances are based on a 25m swimming pool.
Dolphin Challenge
Whale Challenge
Pod Challenge
The dolphin is built for swimming and keeping up with him will be a tough challenge.
The curved dorsal fin, the fluke and flippers do make life a lot easier, but with some training you can be more dolphin too.
The whale is a deep diver and a long-distance swimmer - sounds like you?
Some whale species migrate thousands of miles ever year but that's a challenge too far for a human! Try one of these whale-sized challenges instead!
The amazing orcas live in families for life and do almost everything together - hunting, playing, socialising and migrating in family units.
Swimming can be a little lonely at times, so get the whole family (or swimming club, school or work colleagues) involved in a pod challenge!
Small dolphin challenge: 500m
Common bottlenose dolphins may be able to dive up to 500m in search of food – that’s 20 lengths.
If you feel up for a bigger splash, why not double the distance and swim a kilometre?
BIG dolphin challenge: 128km
The distance a dolphin might swim in a day in the wild. Complete 120km over the space of a month –it's a whopping 5,120 lengths!
Need more inspiration?
Read Leah's story below:
Small whale challenge: 2km
Sperm whales dive to depths of up to 400m (16 lengths) but have been known to reach 2-3km.
That would be an impressive 80-120 lengths - but you don't have to do it all in one go!
BIG whale challenge: 4.5km
This is 3 times the 1500 metre depths narwhals can reach - a long way down in the ocean!
It's equivalent to 60 lengths of a 25 metre swimming pool.
Relay Pod Challenge:
Bowhead whales travel in pods of up to 6; fin whales travel in pods of 8. Try a relay of 6 or 8 lengths per swimmer; how many lengths can your pod swim in total? Go for it!
Small Pod Challenge: 5km
The longest recorded migration for a blue whale was 5,000 km – how about aiming for 5,000 metres? 200 lengths is perfect for a small group.
BIG Pod Challenge:15km
Gray whales make round trips every year of 15,000-20,000 kilometres. If your pod (school, colleagues or swimming club) collectively swam 15,000 metres that’s a whopping 600 lengths!
GIANT Pod Challenge: 100km
Orcas live in families of up to 40: 40 swimmers (your school, club or workplace) could collectively swim 100km, the distance orcas cover daily.
Leah made a BIG splash for whales and dolphins - and so can you.
Last year, Leah Saunders (11) decided to something exceptional to help whales and dolphins - to swim 128km in just one month. Leah swam every day, sometimes twice a day, at her local pool then wanted to do something special for the last few lengths.
Leah adopts dolphin Spirit and, with her family, she travelled to Scotland to do the very last stretch of her swim in a pool closer to Spirit, and the other adoption dolphins, and to meet WDC Field Officer, Charlie Phillips.
Leah said "I chose to raise money for WDC because I love whales and dolphins and feel strongly against their captivity and wanted to help save them. I swam 128km because that is roughly the distance that a free dolphin can swim in the wild in a day".
"After I had finished I felt truly spectacular; not only had I accomplished my ultimate goal, but I had raised over £420 for an amazing charity".
Be inspired by Leah's amazing achievement and try a Dolphin Challenge yourself.