Louise Orton honours late partner with 20km swim, raises funds for Coastguard

Daniel Allen and partner Louise Orton, who is taking on the Big Swim fundraiser in his honour.

Donations are replacing flowers as Louise Orton swims in memory of her partner, raising funds for Coastguard’s The Big Swim – a cause close to his heart.

On December 31 last year, Daniel Allen died while snorkelling at Bland Bay in Whangaruru.

Coastguard Whangaruru, Northland Coastguard Air Patrol and Coastguard Auckland were involved in the search that brought him back to his family.

Now Orton is giving back in honour of Allen by pledging to swim 20km this month for The Big Swim – and she’s already surpassed her fundraising goal, now sitting at $4445.

For the month of June, participants in The Big Swim set their swimming goals, whether it’s a few lengths or a more ambitious distance, and are encouraged to ask friends, whānau and colleagues to sponsor their efforts and help to raise funds.

“Dan was such a big lover of the ocean, and he felt really strongly that people should be out there living life and enjoying it,” Orton said.

“But he also believed we need services like Coastguard in place to make that possible – he was a massive advocate.”

For Orton, her swim challenge is both a tribute to Allen and a personal thank you to Coastguard.

“It’s a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to the volunteers there that day. Everyone was amazing, and a lot of effort went into trying to revive Dan.

“I was completely overwhelmed with my own grief in the moment, but I’ve thought back to those volunteers often – it would have been traumatic for everyone that day, even those who didn’t know him, and yet they were just doing their job.”

Orton has held third place on The Big Swim’s fundraising leaderboard for individuals for most of this month.

“He would’ve loved that,” she said. “His chest would be pumped out in pride, I love thinking that.”

Swimming was something Allen loved – it was his go-to exercise – and taking on the challenge has helped Orton reconnect with something that brought him joy, while encouraging her to get moving again.

She made a special trip up to Bland Bay from Auckland for a 1.5km winter swim “with Dan, which was magical”.

But what has stood out most, she said, was the generosity of friends, family, colleagues and the community.

“So many people have been happy to put their hand in their pocket for a cause in honour of Dan. It feels so much more productive than, say, sending flowers, but with the same meaning and sentiment behind it, and I’m really proud of that.”

To support Orton, donations can be made here.

The Big Swim wraps up today. So far, 2579 participants have clocked up more than 27,000km and raised more than $560,000 to support Coastguard’s life-saving work across Aotearoa.

Story written by Coastguard.