McGrathNicol claims Special Olympics swim crown over rivals

26 October 2023 Consultancy.com.au

Rival professional services firms KPMG, Deloitte, and McGrathNicol have competed in the latest Special Olympics swimming sponsorship event, with the latter taking home the overall trophy.

Special Olympics Australia has hosted its annual SPLASH corporate swim fundraising challenge in Sydney, with teams from professional services firms Deloitte, KPMG and McGrathNicol among those taking part.

For the fourth time in eight years, a team from McGrathNicol has taken home the trophy, with Monitor Deloitte senior consultant Hayden Rolls just edging KPMG manager Andrew Whittaker in the individual fundraising stakes.

McGrathNicol claims Special Olympics swim crown over rivals

Established by Olympic decathlete Peter Hadfield to support sporting inclusivity for people with intellectual disability and autism, the Splash event has raised more than $600,000 since its inception. The format sees teams of eight compete against their corporate rivals in an 800 metre freestyle relay, aided by an Olympian ring-in.

Guests this year included swimming gold medallist Daniel Kowalski and former men’s water polo captain Thomas Whalan.

Colliers, as this year’s biggest fundraiser in reaching its $10,000 target, had first dibs on its aquatic champion of choice, but it was Rio bronze medal winner Matthew Abood who helped bring home the chocolates at the Andrew Boy Charlton Pool in Woolloomooloo for the McGrathNicol Marlins, who also earned bragging rights over their colleagues in team MahiMahis. The winning team included Doug Kay, who was promoted to director in July.

Embracing the ‘sink or swim’ consulting mantra, McGrathNicol has now won four of the eight Splash meets, reclaiming the title off last year’s winner KPMG, which may have had a bit of a leg-up from one of its own; senior consultant Nathan Power, who joined the firm in 2021 following his appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a member of the Australian water polo team. The firm later provided the economic modelling to help snag the 2032 games for Brisbane.

Another company to embrace former Olympians is fellow Big Four firm Deloitte, with three of its Sydney Splash participants – senior strategy manager Thom Greving and senior consultants Harry Wigney and Jasper Bennett – featuring alongside colleague Hayden Rolls as among the top half a dozen fundraisers, together bringing in more than $4,000 worth of donations. With the donation portal still open, Rolls narrowly leads the table with a $1,369 contribution.

Figures aside, Special Olympics Australia has highlighted the importance of its work through the story of Sarah Clarke, who wound up winning a basketball bronze medal at the most recent games in Berlin after being encouraged to take up swimming.

Previously supported by KPMG, the Special Olympics has been described as the largest sporting gathering on earth, with more than 70,000 attendees.

More on: McGrathNicol
Australia
Company profile
McGrathNicol is not a Australia partner of Consultancy.org
Partnership information »
Partnership information

Consultancy.org works with three partnership levels: Local, Regional and Global.

McGrathNicol is a not a partner of Consultancy.org.

Upgrade or more information? Get in touch with our team for details.