Our Million Dollar Marilyns

On Sunday 5 February, the 10th Marilyn Jetty Swim, held each year as part of the Channel 7 Brighton Jetty Classic, saw a record number of 513 Marilyns swimming or paddling 400 metres around the Brighton Jetty—all dressed head to toe as ‘50s icon Marilyn Monroe—making this our biggest year yet!

With an increase of 200 participants from last year’s swim, we saw a surge of new Marilyns take to the sea to raise funds for South Australians impacted by cancer.

To celebrate a huge 10 years of the Marilyn Jetty Swim, our Marilyns had a goal to raise $185,000 to reach a fundraising total of $1 MILLION raised over the past decade. They smashed this fundraising goal, raising over $250,000!

What started as a community fundraiser in 2014 has now grown into one of Cancer Council SA’s most unique fundraising events. Founding Marilyn, Sarah Tinney started the Marilyn Jetty Swim in 2014 as a community fundraising event in memory of her mum who passed away from cancer.

Our Chief Executive Kerry Rowlands joined the Marilyn Jetty Swim as a first-time Swim Marilyn in 2022. Kerry went on to love the experience so much so that she helped the Marilyn community celebrate 10 fabulous years by coming back for her second year in a row in 2023.

“It’s an amazing community event that has lots of wonderful people making it such a huge success. This year’s milestone 10-year event was one I will certainly never forget,” Kerry says.

“I can’t even begin to describe the energy of the day – this year’s event certainly was bold, brave and fabulous and I’m so grateful to be part of this iconic and frivolous community of Marilyns.”

All funds raised from this incredible event will help Cancer Council SA continue to fund vital research, prevention and support programs that make a real difference.

Thank you to all who took part in the swim on the day, donated to support our Marilyns, went down to cheer the Marilyns on, and helped make this day a huge success.

We can’t wait to make next year’s Marilyn Jetty Swim even bigger. You can register your interest for the 2024 Marilyn Jetty Swim now and we’ll contact you when registrations are open for next year’s event.