No refunds for Perthshire swimming event participants despite raw sewage leak forcing cancellation

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Participants at a Highland Perthshire outdoor swimming event that was called off halfway through due to a raw sewage leak will not be offered refunds by organisers.In a statement, SwimWild said this is because the Scottish Winter Swimming Championships on Loch Tay was already well underway at the point of cancellation.The team added that expenses - including venue hire, setup costs and ambulance cover - for the event at Taymouth Marina had already been paid for.SwimWild did reveal, however, that it is pursuing legal avenues for compensation from the host resort’s insurance, which they would use to partially or fully refund attendees.The competition on February 24-26 was well underway on the second day before the sudden discharge during a lunch break, when no swimmers were in the water.Solid matter was seen floating on the surface where competitors were expected to enter - around 20m from the leakage point.SwimWild had no choice but to cancel the event for “safety reasons”.Referring to its terms and conditions on its cancellation policy for the Scottish Winter Swimming Championships 2023, the organiser’s statement read: “Sadly we cannot offer any refunds to participants who could not compete at this year’s event, as the event was already halfway through at the point of cancellation.“At this point, all event expenses (including venue hire, set-up costs, extra pontooning, ambulance/medical cover, safety crew, warming tents, sound equipment, event admin costs etc) had already been incurred. “As per our cancellation update email on February 28, we are having ongoing discussions with our insurers and legal advisers as to the next steps we can take.