Meet Sarah

Our founding Marilyn!

Like so many others, founding Marilyn Sarah Tinney first turned to fundraising for Cancer Council SA in 2006 when she found out that her mother, who lived in the USA, was diagnosed with uterine cancer. From the first day of her mother’s diagnosis, Sarah pledged to help raise money to cure cancer in her honour.

And that’s how the Marilyn Jetty Swim was born.

This is Sarah’s story

“What started as a light-hearted conversation with some of the ladies at our local surf club about doing a fundraiser with a difference, has become something I’m incredibly proud of. I’m not athletic but agreed to do a swim out to the jetty with a floaty on two conditions—I’d make it comical by dressing like one of the most iconic women to grace our screens and I’d be joined by lookalike decoys so people couldn’t identify me swimming!  

A handshake sealed the deal and the Marilyn Jetty Swim was born. 

It was only months later, while feeling reluctant, I called my friend with the intention of pulling out of the stunt. When she told me the shocking news that she’d just been diagnosed with breast cancer, I knew there was no turning back. 

With every fundraising event I’ve done, particularly the Marilyn Jetty Swim, my mum is in my heart. After she passed away in 2007, supporting people impacted by cancer became even more important to me. I know I’m doing something to help end cancer in her honour and it’s given me incredible empowerment to turn my grief into action. And I’m so lucky to be doing it surrounded by amazing people. 

Each year we have a fabulous time knowing that we’re making a big difference.  

Come the big day everyone looks fabulous wearing their gorgeous vintage white bathing suits, platinum blonde wigs and red lipstick, parading down Jetty Road in Brighton with the Royal Australian Navy Band. 

It’s really quite spectacular to see more than 600 Marilyn lookalikes plunge into the ocean, paddling around the Brighton Jetty,  

I am so proud that each year the event keeps growing. Our first year, in 2014, we had 50 Marilyns participating and raising over $26,500. Now we have over 600 amazing Marilyns raising over $300,000! The event continues to exceed all my own expectations, and we’re always aiming higher every year. 

Whatever the figure, we know that every dollar will help Cancer Council SA make a real difference for so many people when they need it most. 

I hope my kids never have cancer. But if they do, I hope treatment can be easier, more effective, smarter. Somebody has to do something to get us there and it might as well be all of us. As our muse, Marilyn Monroe, may have once said, ‘Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world!’ I like to think, ‘Just give her the right bathing suit, a blonde wig and a touch of red lippy!’”