Getting colder….quickly.

We’re ending at about 32 or 33 minutes on each swim at the moment.  My first year open water swimming through the Winter, so the movement in water temperatures is a surprise to me.  Friday afternoon at 4.00 we got 8.7C and thought it was cold, but it was swimmable and not just in Bernard’s moveable “calm bit”.  A bit of fun at the end, trying to surf some waves into the beach.

Saturday morning at 8.30 it was colder at 8.3C / 8.4C with long rolling swells, but fine to swim to Fennell’s Bay.  Carmel was threatening to not renew her subscription if we couldn’t make it colder for her to practice for the Cold Water Swimming Championships next weekend.

Sunday morning, it was rough and bitterly cold in the wind before and after.  The run (sprint) down the beach to get into the sea was the worst bit.  The water was actually a relief! Bernard’s watch read 7.8C when we were getting out at 33 minutes.

So, with a couple of watches to verify it, we have almost a full degree drop in the water temp over three days.  Somebody qualified (a Registered Coldology Practitioner) please tell me it’s not going to keep going at this pace!!  February is the coldest month, the Coldologists say.   I’m really enjoying it and can’t remember what it was like not sea swimming regularly, but still hoping the sea won’t keep getting colder at this rate.

Open Water Sea Swimming in Cork, Ireland

Myrtleville looking quite nice for a swim! January 2013

New wetsuit? Straight to the sea!

Siobhan Russell had to try out her new suit and brought her camera this morning.  9.1C in the water and the suit passed with flying colours.

Open water sea swimming in Cork, Ireland

Siobhan Russell, Tim Smyth, Bernard Lynch & Abby Lynch – Myrtleville 13-1-13

Open water sea swimming in Cork, Ireland

Change of Shifts – Tim and Bernard coming out – Brian and Tom go in: Myrtleville 13-1-13

Open water sea swimming in Cork, Ireland

Early sun at the end of the swim, Myrtleville 13-1-13

Some more pictures from Siobhan at this link.

Year-round sea swimmers

Tom Bermingham, Brian O’Connor and a regular group of hardy annuals swim in Myrtleville every day.  Coming from the old-school, Tom describes the current January temperatures as being “like a bath”….Cold water swimming?  These men don’t know the meaning of it!

Open Water Swimming, Cork, Ireland

Brian O’Connor & Tom Bermingham: Myrtleville, January 12, 2013

UCC friends of MSF Charity Swim

To mark Women’s Little Christmas, a dedicated group of students from the Friends of MSF UCC Society, braved the open water for some sea swimming.  They were raising funds for Médecins Sans Frontières, in aid of MSF’s projects in South Sudan and hoping to spread awareness about the suffering of the 170,000 people in refugee camps there. MSF is working with those who have fled the violence in Sudan, running field hospitals and providing clean drinking water and oral rehydration fluids.

If anyone would like to support MSF in their work, they can give a once-off contribution using this link : https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/onetime.cfm .  Money goes much further in South Sudan than it does in Ireland, so if just one person donated a euro, that would be a success.

Open Water - Sea Swimming in Cork, Ireland: Friends of MSF Charity Swim

Friends of MSF Christmas Swim

Open Water - Sea Swimming for MSF - January 6, 2013

Sea Swimming for MSF – January 6, 2013

January – February Swim Times

Planned swim times for Myrtleville Beach. These are the times most likely that a group will assemble, however as with everything, it’s not guaranteed!  Swim at your own risk. Don’t swim alone. Always swim in groups.

There are also some additional swims around 4pm on weekdays or 9.15 on Sunday mornings, but these are a bit more last-minute.  Text or email if you’re interested any day.

  • Friday, January 11: 16:00
  • Saturday, January 12: 08:30
  • Friday, January 18: 16:00
  • Saturday, January 19: 08:30
  • Friday, January 25: 16:00
  • Saturday, January 26: 08:30
  • Friday, February 1: 16:00
  • Saturday, February 2: 08:30

Last open water swim of 2012

One last sea swim to see out the year and James Slowey Jnr. got  a great picture of the beach to mark it. Pity about the three guys who got in the way……

Tim Smyth, James Slowey & Bernard Lynch - last sea swim of 2012: dedicated open water swimming in Ireland

Tim Smyth, James Slowey (Snr.!) & Bernard Lynch – last sea swim of 2012

Cold water swimming? It’s toasty…..

Avoiding the pool at all costs, we had a visit from cold water specialist, Finbarr Hedderman.  Mr. Finbarr pronounced the 9.8c water “toasty” and enjoyed 40 minutes in the sunshine and very swimmable water.  Open water swimming in Ireland in December can still be a pleasure!  Unusually, though, we got to watch a surfer trying to catch the waves at the Dutchman rocks.

Damian, Finbarr and Bernard post-swim: Myrtleville, December 28, 2012

Damian, Finbarr and Bernard post-swim: Myrtleville, December 27, 2012