🚀 Behind the Scenes of Swym Hack '25: The Story of Organising a Hackathon
How We Dreamed, Planned, Pivoted, and Pulled Off Our First Offline Hackathon at Swym
When the idea of hosting a hackathon at Swym first came up in December 2024, it sounded exciting — but also a little ambitious. As discussions faded a bit in January, I still held onto one simple goal: We are going to have a hackathon. Why? Because hackathons are just plain awesome. They’re fun, fast-paced, and bring out the best in creativity and collaboration. You learn, you build, and most importantly, you bond with your colleagues in ways daily work rarely allows.
Little did I know, this was just the beginning of a rollercoaster journey.
🌱 From Idea to Initiative
While the topic cooled off for a while, I started to speak to others who, like me, were keen on making this event happen. Soon, we had a small but passionate group, and just like that, our Hackathon Committee was born.
We kicked things off by identifying what we wanted this hackathon to be. Not just another team-building activity, but a space for true innovation. We wanted Swymmers to come together across teams, solve real problems, and learn new things — all while having a blast.
🧭 Key Learning: Know Your "Why"
One of the key learnings from this journey was how important it is to fixate on the hackathon's objective before beginning. Hackathons can be structured in various ways, each serving different goals — whether it's hiring, community outreach, product innovation, or internal collaboration. Unless you're clear from the start about what you're aiming to achieve, it's easy to get sidetracked. Defining our objective upfront — fostering collaboration and innovation — helped us stay on course and bring out the best from everyone involved.
🎯 Our Objective
To increase collaboration and innovation across the company by providing Swymmers the opportunity to work with colleagues they don’t usually interact with, bringing diverse creative minds together to solve problems in unique ways.
🧠 Planning the Unconventional
Here’s where things got interesting. We did something very different and intentional.
Unlike most hackathons where teams self-form, we flipped the script. Our aim was cross-team collaboration, so we formed the teams ourselves.
After registrations closed, we wrote a script (thanks, ChatGPT!) to group people based on skills, roles, and experience. The result? Balanced teams with a healthy mix of developers, designers, thinkers, and doers.
This wasn’t just an organizational hack — it was a way to foster new connections and push people out of their usual orbits. We knew that everyone here loved solving problems, and we believed the real magic could happen when different creative minds came together.
🤖 Picking the Perfect Theme
We didn’t stop there.
We invited stakeholders from different departments to join a discussion group that helped us decide on the hackathon theme. With input from stakeholders across departments, we landed on:
"AI Agents & Data – Enhancing Swym Operations"
The goal was simple: build AI-powered tools that could make work at Swym faster, better, or just plain cooler. The ideas that followed were proof we were on the right track.
🗓️ Working Backwards: A Project, Not Just an Event
Planning an event like this required a shift in mindset. We didn’t just wing it. We treated it like a real project.
First, we fixed the hackathon date and worked backwards. Once the date was fixed, we planned backwards, just like we would with any product launch. We created a detailed Excel sheet with every task laid out, from theme reveal to snack logistics. We had timelines, owners, dependencies — the full shebang. This approach of working backwards really helped us stay grounded and focused.
And speaking of chaos…
🧩 Twists in the Tale
No good story comes without some unexpected plot twists, and this was no different.
Nothing ever goes 100% according to plan. But that’s half the fun, right?
Our theme reveal got delayed due to stakeholder schedules.
Idea submission windows shrunk.
A few people dropped out last-minute due personal emergencies, so teams had to be reshuffled.
We were doing this offline for the first time, which brought a whole new layer of logistics.
And more…
But we adapted. We made backup plans. We kept moving.
💡 Pro Tip:
Make a list of things that could go wrong. Then write down what you’ll do if they do. It’s not pessimism — it’s good planning. That list saved us more than once.
💻 Powered by AI (and Snacks)
We leaned into AI throughout — drafting forms, announcements, posters, Slack messages, and more. AI became our co-organizer, helping us save time and focus on the bigger picture.
Also, never underestimate the power of snacks, stickers, and swag. They turned the event from “cool” to “can’t-miss.”
🎤 In-Person Magic
Swym Hack ‘25 was a 3-day in-person whirlwind, with teams getting 48 hours to bring their ideas to life.
The vibe? Electric.
Laptops open. Coffee flowing. Energy buzzing.
What stood out most was the "winning together" spirit. Even with prizes on the line, people helped each other, offered feedback, and celebrated every small win. It felt less like seven teams competing — and more like one big team creating.
On Day 2, many Swymmers pulled an all-nighter. Heads-down coding mixed with games, music, and random fun breaks. Pure hackathon magic.
Demo Day was the grand finale — all 7 teams presented their projects in front of an enthusiastic crowd. 20 minutes per team. Live demos. Q&A. Applause all around.
And in the end? It was never about the prizes. It was about discovering what’s possible when you believe in an idea and bring your whole self — and team — to the table.
💡 What We Learned
Here are a few takeaways that really stuck with us:
Expect curveballs:
Something will go off-script. But that’s OK. Plan for it. In the real world, it's more probable that things won't go as planned. That's not pessimism — that's reality. Schedules shift, people get pulled into urgent tasks, timelines shrink, and unexpected curveballs are almost guaranteed. That’s exactly why listing out everything that could go wrong and coming up with a backup plan for each is not just a nice-to-have — it’s essential. Think of it like insurance: you hope you don’t need it, but you’ll be very glad you have it when things go sideways. It gave us more confidence, faster response times, and fewer moments of chaos.
Work backwards:
It’s the best way to stay focused and avoid crunch time.
Fix a date, then build your plan from there — not the other way around. This approach forces you to be realistic about timelines, dependencies, and resource availability. It also helps the whole team stay aligned and accountable.
Fix the goal early:
Your "why" guides everything.
A clear objective acts as your north star when decisions get hard or time runs short. It ensures everyone is rowing in the same direction and helps avoid distractions or scope creep. The more specific your goal, the better the outcome.
AI tools are your best friends:
Use them smartly, and they’ll save you tons of time.
From writing documents and announcements to generating team combinations and creating posters, AI helped us automate the boring stuff so we could focus on the fun stuff. Think of it as an extra team member who never sleeps.
Nothing beats a great team:
It also became crystal clear that pulling off something like this takes a team. No one person can do it all. The collaboration within the hackathon committee was one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling parts of this experience. Everyone pitched in, contributed, and stayed motivated.
Leadership support matters:
None of this would have been possible without the incredible support from our leadership and HR team. They trusted us and gave us everything we needed — from budget approvals to logistics support. They also helped us by listening to our plans, giving thoughtful feedback to refine them, and ensuring that any dependencies involving them were addressed ahead of time. Their proactive involvement made the process smoother and boosted our confidence in pulling off a successful event.
🙌 Final Thoughts
Organizing Swym Hack ‘25 was one of the most rewarding (and challenging) experiences I’ve had. We had no idea it would take 2-3 months of planning — but it was worth every moment.
Would I do it again?
Absolutely. 100% yes.
To anyone considering hosting a hackathon:
Start small.
Know your "why".
Work backwards.
Embrace the chaos.
And don’t forget the snacks and stickers. 😉
Oh, and yes — we definitely figured out how to hack a hackathon. 🛠️
Want a copy of our planning sheet or the team-matching script? Ping me — happy to share!