There are none as zealous as the converted.   Once they have steered themselves from the darkness into the light and on to the path of the righteous, they’re only too happy to tell you how you should do the same.  Take, for example, the recent conversion of Gary “The Cakeman” Frost to the nutritional guidance counsellor, “Good Food Gary”.  Just as a reminder, this is Gary….

Gary with what would have been a pretty standard post-swim snack for him in the pre-conversion (and pre-beard) days.

Gone are the days when Gary was first in line to share in the cáca goodies.  Now, he’s preaching a mantra of “soups and stews” after Turkey swims, rather than “cakes and sweets” like we usually have.  Here’s another pre-conversion small snack for Gary – good work on the portion control there.

After a hard session in the sea on a Saturday morning (or five minutes of paddling, depending on your preference), a full-Irish in Hassett’s is a popular Myrtleville treat.  Gary himself was a regular supporter until he saw the light.  Now it’s granola and natural yoghurt for GFG (note the Lowry fry in the background – still sinners to be converted, Gary).

Thumbs up for the cardboard – no taste, so it must be good for him.

Gary, you have to take advice from older, wiser heads.  Not me – take it from Denis – the man who knows about these things – the Mnás prefer a beefier man.  He said so, so it must be true. Tuck in, Gary.  Come back to the dark side. 

Denis – beefy mná magnet.  Granola-free zone.

There’s lots of new swimmers around Myrtleville and it’s a shame really that most of them won’t have met Bernard Lynch, FOWS, or know what he looks like.  He’s a great guy and before he became a full-time POOL swimmer, he used to be around the beach a lot. Here’s a pic of him when he was kidnapped and forced to display inferior hats down West.Unfortunately for us down Myrtleville way – some time last Summer, Bernard fell under the spell of famous coach, Eilis Burns.  Eilis believes that all swimming should involve chlorine and that open water swimming is to be undertaken every 40 years or so.  Now, to be fair, Eilis has street-cred on this point, having not gone into the sea herself since Cork to Cobh in 1973 and then leading the field home in Spain in a very tough 22km earlier this month.

Eilis told Bernard it was POOL all the way if he wanted to achieve long swim success like her and he has had to abandon his regular saline therapy.  Here’s another good pic of him as we remember him…..that’s him at the bottom, there.It would be great to get him back to the beach, so maybe we could organise a petition to Eilis.  If you’d like Bernard Lynch (Former Open Water Swimmer) to be allowed back to the sea, send your emails to freethemyrtlevilleone@eilisinthepool.com or call in to Source at any time of the day or night when he’ll be there – going up and down, up and down, up and down……Cruel, is what it is – cruel.  One last picture of him….so you’ll know him if you see him.

Hopefully Eilis will relent and Bernard can be a Future rather than Former OWS again. Free Bernie!!