Myrtleville Monday

Posted on September 3, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

It is just fantastic to see the crowds swimming in Myrtleville, with over seventy swimmers in the water last night at various stages. Carol Cashell was down after her pioneering Bere Island swim on Saturday (followed by Spike Island to Cobh on Sunday and she’s off to the pool this morning: “Slow down, Tommy (or Carol), Slow down!”).

Bernard Lynch and Damian O’Neill benefitted from Carol’s help in their marathon swims last week and presented her with some small tokens of appreciation.

Open water sea swimming in Cork, Ireland

Presentation to our hero – champagne, chocolates and flowers for Carol.

The picture above looks very respectable, but things weren’t quite so nice earlier when poor Eleanor asked for some of the choccies based on all her hard work……

They’re all MINE and you’re not getting ANY!! (I told you she was MEAN).

Rebeca Power was back after a few weeks away and James Slowey took time off the bike after his Haute Route adventures to get used to the water again.

Rebeca Power, Niall O’Herlihy & James Slowey.

Carol eventually agreed to share, so the sisters were friends again….

Carol, Eleanor and someone who heard about Carol’s doggy paddling….

Siobhan Russell did a great job getting various groups together and managed to organise one large gang before they went in….

Some of the Myrtleville swimmers on Monday night.

Michelle Glossop Smyth was giving tips on swimming in Myrtleville – she’s had lots of practice all Summer.

Pat Dunphy, Joe Healy & Michelle Glossop Smyth

Two more Myrtleville regulars finishing their swims.

Steve McCarthy with Niamh O’Connor.

Cyril Walsh gave some much-appreciated kayaking support for the practice swim for Crosshaven Tri last Saturday and was down for some training himself tonight with his wife, Barbara Anne.

Barbara Anne Richardson & Cyril Walsh.

There’s a fantastic buzz around Myrtleville this Summer and it’s not over yet. Next up is Crosshaven Tri on Saturday, September 7th and – weather permitting – our own Myrtleville to Church Bay swim on the evening of September 21st. Keep swimming 🙂

Lots more great pictures from Siobhan Russell online here.

Bye buoy

Posted on August 20, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

The yellow buoy near Bunny’s was proving popular at high tide early yesterday evening for swimmers practicing their sprints for Crosshaven Tri. Unfortunately, one of the other buoys formerly anchored at the Dutchman has started to head towards France, so hopefully nobody used that as a sighting guide.

Dodgy yellow buoy gone to France.

There was a bit of a chill going in, but it still felt quite warm very quickly after that. Getting in is the hard bit……

Possibly feeling a little colder tonight…..Eleanor Courtney and Carol Cashell.

It always feels great when it’s done, though.

Michelle Glossop Smyth, Gary Frost, Joleen Cronin, Siobhan Russell, Grace O’Shea, Richie Kelleher.

Thanks to Siobhan Russell for the pictures.

Congratulations & Good Luck

Posted on August 19, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Owen O’Keeffe warmed up (or rather, cooled down) for his Summer of long swims with a five hour swim in Myrtleville in June and has been clocking up some fantastic results since then. Last week, he completed a 61km swim down the Blackwater from Fermoy to Youghal. It’s hard to even imagine it! Carol Cashell was among the crowd who went to cheer him home and sent some pictures. His swim report is here.

Owen O’Keeffe finishing Fermoy to Youghal 61km swim.

Owen O’Keeffe and family

Also, good luck this week to regular Myrtleville Swimmer, James Slowey, who is racing in the Haute Route Alps – a seven day road race billed as “The highest and toughest cyclosportive in the world”. He made sure he could handle the cold sections on the mountain tops by swimming all Winter….

James Slowey: Myrtleville Ice Beach 22 January, 2013.

And finally, just another beautiful picture of Myrtleville – what a treasure…

Myrtleville, Sunday August 18, 2013.

Beach war

Posted on August 16, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Siobhan Russell, as ever, has been busy recording the activities at the beach. With lots of competitive swims going on and moving closer to the Crosshaven Triathlon, it can get a bit heated at times. Factions and splinter groups definitely appearing….

Blue Seventy vs Orca – gang war line-ups.

It seems it’s getting serious for some…..

I don’t know – and I don’t want to know.

Time to get back to what it’s all about….

Race from the beach – serious Tri preparations going on now.

Speaking of serious swims, Trevor Malone broke the fastest time for an Irish swimmer from Africa to Europe in the last few weeks. As usual, Bernard was straight in for the photo with the returning hero. Here they are – to quote Carol Cashell – brown and browner.

Trevor Malone and Bernard Lynch.

The red-head convention is under way shortly in Crosshaven, but Joleen Cronin still has to get her work done for her first attempt at the Crosshaven Triathlon on September 7th. She’s pictured below with fellow first-timer, Clodagh Monks and our intrepid photographer, Siobhan. 150 individuals and 60 teams are entered and entries are closed. Another fantastic effort by all concerned.

Clodagh Monks, Siobhan Russell & Joleen Cronin – ginger, anyone?

Finally, apparently Tara O’Connell was determined to show off her Barleycove Riviera tan, so this picture was sent for inclusion….

Orlando Hill, Tara O’Connell, Siobhan Russell & Claire Canning.

Keep swimming and remember – Marlin and Dory had to swim 1,568 miles to find Nemo – you can just go to the Dutchman and back if you prefer, although you may not find Nemo there.

19.5ºC IN THE WATER – IN MYRTLEVILLE, NOT SPAIN.

Posted on July 23, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

A quote from the internationally-accepted precise open water swimming temperature scale, courtesy of loneswimmer.com:
Over 18°C (65°F): This temperature is entirely theoretical and only happens on TV and in the movies.

Last night, verified on three watches, we had 19.5ºC in Myrtleville. Wetsuits were abandoned up and down the beach. Electrolyte transfusions were set up by the boathouse to help recover from the sweat.

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Myrtleville – 22 July, 2013

Regular Myrtleville swimmers (known as Myrtlevillians to Mr. Bohane and others) had been sending home texts from their holidays crowing about 19ºC water “out foreign”. They must be freezing.

After a committee meeting, it has been decided to rename the beach and a new sign was erected this morning:

Myrtleville – AKA Hot Water Beach

See you in the water!

Church Bay Directions

Posted on July 15, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

As Myrtleville continues to be thronged, several people have asked for directions to Church Bay for Monday evening’s swim, so here goes:

Church Bay Directions

From Crosshaven the total journey is about 1.3km. Take the right hand fork in the Y at Cronin’s pub. The left fork will take you to Fort Camden. If you get there, go back! Follow the narrow road up the hill and past the graveyard on your left and keep right at the next Y. This means crossing the traffic, so do yield 🙂 . Then take the first left down the hill and find a place to park at the side of the road.

Evening swimmers

Posted on July 12, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

The Crosshaven group have been going down a bit later to avoid the crowds and Siobhan Russell sent on these pictures from their Wednesday night swim.

Happy with sea temps reaching 17c: Siobhan Russell, Gary Frost, Orlando Hill, Barbara-Anne , Niamh O’Connor, Harry Casey, Annemarie Fegan, Aoife O’Donovan and Joleen Cronin.

“She got in my way….”. Don’t mess with Niamh O’Connor or you might end up flat on your back…..

On his first sea swim of the year in April, Sean Foley asked “just how many times can you get brain freeze in one swim??”. Better temperatures a few months on!

Finally some warm water – Harry Casey and Sean Foley.

July & August swim times

Posted on July 4, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Planned swim times for Myrtleville Beach. These are the times most likely that a group will assemble. Email myrtlevilleswimmers@gmail.com if you’re interested any day. Or tweet @Berlyn1966.

These times can vary earlier or later, so definitely check in advance if you’re coming on your own. With holiday – and racing – season here, there are potentially some mornings when a group will not assemble. Swim at your own risk. Don’t swim alone. Always swim in groups.

Monday: 18:00
Tuesday: 06:15
Wednesday: 06:15
Friday: 06:15
Saturday: 08:15

Liner adds a nice backdrop

Posted on July 2, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

The regular busy Monday night crews on the beach last night. James Slowey (Snr) had his usual couch-potato weekend – just a quick Olympic Tri on Saturday to stretch the legs. With the sea temperature in Kilkee for the event up around 15c, we’re starting to wonder what we’re doing wrong in Cork: still closer to 12c here but we’re now so used to it we think it’s fine. James Slowey (Jnr) – AKA “the young fella” – did a good 500m swim last night also.

James Slowey Snr, James Slowey Jnr & Ronan McCarthy

Great to see some of the next generation of Myrtleville Swimmers going in last night.

The Crosshaven Women’s Synchronised Swimming team continued their extensive preparations to be the first team to complete the Crosshaven Challenge in perfect harmony.

Synchronised Swimming – Michelle Glossop-Smyth and Ger Venner.

Our “Safety Boat” was back for another evening of photo opportunities…

Harry Casey, Ger Venner, Michelle Glossop-Smyth, Fiona Gough, Joleen Cronin, Siobhan Russell – and the Safety boat 🙂

One wave out, next one in – Myrtleville Mondays are busy

Coming back to the beach – what a view.

Thanks, as always, to Siobhan Russell for the pictures.

More from Monday

Posted on June 27, 2013 by myrtlevilleswimmers

There’s been a bit of a shock for everyone this week with the sea temperature dropping back as low as 10.7c. June isn’t supposed to be like this! Good weather coming so that should push it back up again. Apart from taking great pictures, Siobhan Russell has been trialling her new SafeSwimmer float. I’ve just got mine in the post and plan to use it on any lone swims in future – looking forward to trying it out.

Siobhan Russell trialling her new SafeSwimmer with Harry Casey & Orlando Hill

Niamh O’Connor, Gary Frost & Sara O’Riordan

Gary Frost & Richard Hawkins.

Richard Hawkins & Stephen O’Reilly.

Cold or not, keep swimming 🙂

Myrtleville Swimmers

Open Water – Sea Swimming in Cork, Ireland

Category Archives: Information

Myrtleville Monday

Bye buoy

Congratulations & Good Luck

Beach war

19.5ºC IN THE WATER – IN MYRTLEVILLE, NOT SPAIN.

Church Bay Directions

Evening swimmers

July & August swim times

Liner adds a nice backdrop

More from Monday