Mistaken Identity at the 2011 swim.

Posted on June 12, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Get your entries in for the sixth annual RNLI Myrtleville-Church Bay swim on July 4, 2015.

You never know, you might get your picture taken – but perhaps not the right name in the Echo. You can’t always rely on d’Echo to recognise even famous mariners like Cpt. Tom McCarthy!

ECHO SPORT – Mick Harris arrives on shore after his 2k Open Water Swin from Fort Camden to the RNLI station in Crosshaven (pic Howard Crowdy)

It’s easy to get confused, though. Here’s one of Mr. Harris – or another famous bearded man – with the winners in 2011. The girl in the wetsuit looks familiar and who did that young guy grow up to be?

Get your entry for July 4, 2015 in here.

Entry form completion – some guidance.

Posted on June 5, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

As the entries come in for the RNLI Myrtleville-Church Bay swim on July 4, 2015, it’s noticeable that some swimmers either don’t understand the seriousness of the qualifying swim requirements or are simply trying to trade on past glories. A sample of the – failed – submissions under qualifying swims are as follows:

Qualifying Swims:

20ft paddle in the kids pool in Leisure World May 2013
Plenty
Would you like to see my world rankings for 1500m… will that count 🙂
10 laps of San Francisco Bay (I swear !!)
Managed it last year
Lots (this from the man who in 2014 said: Just lots, more than you can imagine)
Swam in the pool at Source with Bernard

Of course, none of these attempted entries passed scrutiny. Lads (and Lassies – ye’re no better) – there’ll be no living in the past now. The Myrtleville Is Not A Club Annual Best Swim In The World Entry Validation Sub-Committee (or MINACABSITWEVSC for short) won’t stand for this kind of flippancy and blatant flouting of the rules.

Either do the required qualifying swims – in 2015, mind – or entries just won’t be accepted. ‘Tis a disappointment, really. I’d expect it from the fella below, but the rest of ye? Sure, you can’t be doin’ that lads.

Proper entries to be submitted here!

Is it Bulman or Bullman?

Posted on June 2, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Sometimes trying to piece together what happened at swims from the pictures taken, can get a little confusing. I thought the spelling was Bulman, but then wasn’t sure if it was Bullman or Bull Man. Siobhan Russell did her usual fantastic job and by all accounts, it was a great event. That wasn’t where my problems lay – it was in the extra pictures I found referring to bulls and swims. Anyway, I worked out the order and what was happening in the pictures – I think.

Firstly, Finbarr reconfirmed his Myrtlevillian credentials and introduced his family.

Open water, sea swimming in Cork, Ireland.

Finbarr and his gang from Myrtleville. Myrtlevillians Abú, says the Big Man.

From comments on the web, it seems Ned Denison was being unusually lenient in allowing last-minute entrants. The arrival of a large group of same was spotted by Finbarr.

It’s fair to say that there was some concern on the faces of other swimmers when they realised that the new group was being allowed to enter.

Representations were made to Ned by Gary and Landy, but Ned felt he couldn’t turn down the late-comers – although he was a bit dubious about it as he eyed them up.

It’s from here on that the pictures and Bulman vs. Bullman confusion caught me out. I think the shot of the start below confirms the late entrants just took over and it’s Bullman and not Bulman. That’s definitely Rob Bohane leading out – sure, who else?

Safety cover from Tom was superb as always – although it’s a different boat to usual. Lots of drafting going on too.

Hope I pieced this together properly. Here’s a few more nice shots from the day – in no particular order.

Play GTA the OWS way

Posted on May 30, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

As we tick down to just five weeks to go to the RNLI Myrtleville-Church Bay swim on July 4, 2015, we’re going back to 2011 for the always popular OWS GTA (Guess The Ass) competition! Go on, guess, who could it be?

Competition entries on an e-postcard or interweb wire-telefax thing to thebigman@skulltogsrule.com.

Actual entries – i.e. to get your ass entered for 2015 – can be submitted here.

Mystery man makes a splash as he enters the water at the start of the RNLI 2k Open Water Swim in Crosshaven in 2011 (pic Howard Crowdy)

Paddling in the Park.

Posted on May 25, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Finbarr Hedderman’s Paddle in the Park went off really well on Friday night. Great idea to make use of the river closer in to the city.

Don’t forget the next event – the Bulman swim, this Saturday, May 30th. Click here for entry details. It’s another qualifying swim for the RNLI Myrtleville-Church Bay swim on July 4th!

Opem water, sea swimming in Cork, Ireland.

Marie Watson follows up her first Fountaintstown-Myrtleville 2km with an evening at the Paddle in the Park.

Kieran Murphy and Audrey Burkley – always so dour: never a smile out of them.

The Hat makes people smile! Brenda Sisk at the Paddle in the Park.

Smiles all round on Friday night. Well, nearly….

Angela – such an inscrutable face. So hard to tell what might she be thinking. (Back off now, Gordon, now, now….)

On Saturday, Gary Frost had great plans and organised a 2km or 4km swim. Really, he organised everything and rounded up the crowds. Didn’t quite go to plan.

Gary’s crowds…..not even a Gary.

It could be that he got lost. Some places are very hard to find. Gary recently drove all over Crosshaven without seeing this small little place.

Get entered for The Bulman swim.

RNLI Myrtleville-Church Bay: July 4, 2015: Six weeks to go.

Posted on May 22, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Six weeks to go to the sixth running of the RNLI Myrtleville – Church Bay Swim. Don’t miss this event. Get swimming and entering.

In the earlier days of the event, there wasn’t a clear distinction between Administration staff and Competitors.

B. Lynch would give the safety briefing, then run to the nearest phone box (tough going from Myrtleville, to be fair) and change in to his superman Orca costume. Ta Da!!

Crosshaven swimmers Bernard Lynch, Brian O’Connell, Caroline Fagan and Jane O’Connell all set for the Myrtleville to Church Bay RNLI Sea Swim 2010 (pic Howard Crowdy)

This is great, isn’t it? Pictures of Bernard in a wetsuit! Whooda Thunkit?

Get swimming and entering for the 2015 event. Not to be missed.

Paddle in the Park 2015 tomorrow – Friday 7pm: Lee Fields

Posted on May 21, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Online entries close tonight but Finbarr Hedderman will take entries on the night.

Forecast is good so, get your entries in now. There are 1km and 2km options.

Entry is just €12, for Cork Lions Club.

Get out there tomorrow night to get the Open Water Season started, support a great cause AND get your qualifying swim done for the RNLI Myrtleville to Church Bay Swim!

RNLI Myrtleville-Church Bay: July 4, 2015: Seven weeks to go

Posted on May 17, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Seven weeks to go. Don’t miss this event. Get swimming and entering.

In 2011, the swim was moved to Camden, due to unfavourable weather at Myrtleville. Judging on the picture below, they bashed down the metal fences to get in there – although that could have been done by Micky, Kenneth or Roy, I suppose.

Then a mad fella in a wetsuit sent them forth into the sea. Plenty of them looked dubious about it. Good to see Moz had used a few bottles of fake tan and had waxed for the day.

RNLI Myrtleville-Church Bay Swim 2011 Safety briefing (pic Howard Crowdy).

To be fair, it must have been bad if even No. 55 was biting his nails in anticipation.

ECHO SPORT – Event organiser Bernard Lynch shows some of the competitors the route prior to the start of the 2nd annual RNLI 2k Open Water Swim at Fort Camden, Crosshaven (pic Howard Crowdy)

Get swimming and entering for the 2015 event. Not to be missed.

RNLI Myrtleville – Church Bay: July 4, 2015

Posted on May 13, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Entries are coming in steadily for this fantastic swim. Get yours in here.

This is the sixth running of the event and I thought a few blasts from the past would be appropriate. With thanks to Howard Crowdy.

Pictured at the first Myrtleville to Church Bay RNLI Sea Swim 2010 were well known swimmers Imelda Lynch, Diarmuid Herlihy, Billy Campion, Finbarr Hedderman, Ossi Schmidt, Ned Denison and Lisa Cummins (pic Howard Crowdy)

Seriously, look at de baba at the back. Ah, Finbarr….were you about 15?

Ossi is smiling in that one but, at times, he has been know to be a bit….precise or maybe Germanic, shall we say. Apparently on the day of this first swim it was scheduled to start at 2.30pm. There was no way that Ossi was going to begin until the appointed time. As for the rest of the entrants….they were a bit more on the Irish side.

Ossi Schmidt pictured appears to be giving the swimmers a head start during the Myrtleville to Church Bay RNLI Sea Swim 2010 (pic Howard Crowdy)

Don’t miss the sixth running of this great swim. Enter here.

Darkness into Light Swim 2015

Posted on May 11, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Some of us, unfortunately, had to miss this fantastic event for very good reasons, but that doesn’t stop certain people having a quick swipe at us in their recap of the swim (yes, Carol, I’m talking about you…).

I was in a shop in Cobh at 8am and was delighted to hear on the radio that the swim was mentioned and had clearly caught public attention. Very well done to all. A great choice of location, Angela and lovely moves in that last picture below too 🙂

FROM CAROL CASHELL:

“An early start didn’t deter 50 swimmers for taking part in the first Darkness into Light Swim (a twist on the Darkness into Light walk/runs), all for Pieta House.

We met at Myrtleville from 4:30am, signed in to get a number on our hands (safety reasons for counting in/out), had a quick safety briefing at 4:55am and were in the water by 5:00am. Rule was to swim towards Fennels Bay (on left, just before Dutchman Rock), and no one to stay in more than 30mins (so we can count everyone out). With Rob Bohane and Kevin Murphy as chief land crew, everything went to plan. We had swimmers strategically placed amongst the groups, watching, encouraging, laughing!. Riana took some super shots of the morning, and I’ve seen plenty more appear on social media taken from mobile phones etc. We were so lucky with the weather, very slight swell in the water, sea temp 10deg, air temp 8deg, and the clouds cleared to see a wonderful sunrise from behind Roches Point. With plenty of money raised for Pieta House, thanks to everyone who turned up to swim, help, take photos & bake! It was definitely one not to have missed.”

Riana Parsons took some great shots of the swim. I’ve put all of them in a Google+ folder and it’s shared here. Here’s a sample:

Myrtleville Swimmers

Open Water – Sea Swimming in Cork, Ireland

Category Archives: Events