The Big Bold Swim for breast cancer research kicks off in February, a perfect time to commit to those New Year fitness goals while raising vital funds for Breast Cancer Trials’ clinical trials research.
While breast cancer survival rates have improved significantly in recent years, in Australia 56 people are diagnosed every day and 3,300 people still die of the disease each year. The Big Bold Swim aims to raise over $600,000 to fund Breast Cancer Trials’ life-saving clinical breast cancer research, which will help shape the future of breast cancer treatment.
One of the people making a splash is Emily Allard, a mother of two in her 40s from Newcastle, NSW, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2022 and understands the importance of clinical trials research firsthand.
“Without cancer treatment, I probably wouldn’t be here today,” Emily explains. “The Herceptin treatment that was founded by Breast Cancer Trials has kept me here.”
Emily’s diagnosis of an aggressive and rare type of breast cancer came out of the blue after she found a lump during a self-examination.
Originally from the UK, she and her husband had to navigate Emily's cancer journey with their young daughter and son, while running a household to run and working throughout her treatment. Emily had a lumpectomy, and targeted therapy Herceptin, chemotherapy and radiation. Her treatment lasted just over a year.
“I swam all the way throughout my treatment, and that helped – I don’t think I would have got through it quite as well if I hadn’t swum every day,” she says.
Emily’s now a big advocate for trials and advancing treatments for future generations. She participated in the inaugural Big Bold Swim in March 2025 and has signed up again this time to show her support.
“My biggest hope would be that nobody has to go through what I went through,” says Emily. “People deserve the best options that we can provide, and we haven’t found all of those options yet. Breast cancer research is vital. Clinical trials save lives, it’s that simple, so it’s really important that the funding keeps coming.”
Big Bold Swim participants can register for free nationwide, as an individual or a team, selecting their own distance to swim during the month of February (2km, 15km, 30km or own goal). Participants receive a free Big Bold Swim cap, KM tracker and can share their tailored fundraising page to help encourage donations. Participants will also be able to connect with others in the Big Bold Swim community via the Facebook group for tips, encouragement and support.
“Every significant advance in breast cancer treatment has been achieved through clinical trials research, so the more clinical trials you help fund, the sooner new treatments can be made available,” explained Kate Campbell, Community Fundraising Coordinator at Breast Cancer Trials. “Our mission is to fund research to find new and more effective treatments and prevention strategies, so that no more lives are cut short by breast cancer.”
The inaugural Big Bold Swim in 2025 saw 1,317 people swim 25,066km and raise over $500,000 for Breast Cancer Trials’ research. For more information, visit: https://bigboldswim.org.au/
About us:
Founded in 1978, Breast Cancer Trials conducts a multicentre national and international clinical trials research program into the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. Every breast cancer treatment available today has been proven through clinical trials research. More than 1,000 researchers in 118 institutions across Australia and New Zealand, together with the organisation’s donors, are committed to the vision of no more lives cut short.
Contact details:
Sara McGregor
Media & PR Lead
M: 0424 591 241
Interviews with Bec and OLIO Trial Study Chair Dr Stephen Luen are available.
