On Saturday, August 23rd at 4.00pm, 93 swimmers took to the water for the 4th annual Courtmacsherry Lifeboat swim. 53 of these completed the longer 3K swim with the other 40 completing 1.5K.
The swim was supported by 9 kayakers, 3 support boats and the Lifeboat. We also had volunteers assist with registration, time keeping, photographs, markers, liaising with the Lifeboat poeple and parking. Thanks to everyone who volunteered. The swim could not happen without them.
The 4th Annual Courtmacsherry Lifeboat Swim takes place at Blind Strand, near the picturesque fishing village of Courtmacsherry at 4.00pm on Saturday, August 23rd. Courtmacsherry is a 45 minute drive from the Bandon Road roundabout. The swim will be well sign posted from the village. Please leave plenty of time for parking and registration. The safety briefing will take place at 3.45pm.
The swim course starts on the beach at Blind Strand and proceeds anti-clockwise around 2 markers.
Participants can choose between 1 lap(1.5K) or 2 laps(3K). Swimmers who elect to do 2 laps will run/walk a short distance on the beach prior to starting lap 2.
The Courtmacsherry volunteers will provide soup and sandwiches for all participants and volunteers. Our sponsors, Trend Micro, will provide the first 100 swimmers to register on the day with a Silicone swim cap.
All proceeds from the swim go to the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat and Swim Ireland membership is not required.
Registration this year is online via Active and closes on Wednesday, August 20th.
If you know of anyone who would like to volunteer to kayak, please have them contact me directly.
Any further updates will be posted on the event web page and emailed to those registered.
I look forward to seeing you for a fun swim on August 23rd.
Regards,
Thanks to Siobhan Russell for capturing the day – we are so lucky to have her involved. All of the photos are online here.
The event went off very successfully and €1,270 was raised for the RNLI. Our thanks again to all of the volunteers, the RNLI, Coast Guard, Gardaí, Funkytown and many individuals who helped with boats, kayaking, course marking, registration, van loading and – the hard bit – unloading, timekeeping, results preparation etc. It’s easy to run an event when there are so many willing helpers.
Anne Sheehy sent on a short video of the start, capturing – amongst other things – Liam Maher dancing happily into the water (wasn’t dancing at the end…) and Mr. Craughwell having to be hunted back into the water by the Safety Officer.
98 swimmers started, with 97 completing the course in good swimmable conditions, but certainly not easy. All finishers were under a very creditable 53 minutes.
Just some of the Safety Armada waiting for the start.
We had a fantastic race for first place, with Gerard Mangan just pipping Ned Denison by a couple of seconds.
Gerard Mangan just ahead of Ned Denison at the finish.
Brian O’Shea took third place, just ahead of Sham Riordan. Orla Houlihan took the honours in the women’s race, coming home ahead of two visitors – Adrienn Ver from Hungary and Andrea Newport from Limerick.
Gerard Mangan – 1st overall.
Ned Denison – 2nd overall.
Brian O’Shea – 3rd overall.
Andrea Houlihan, on behalf of Orla! – first lady.
Adrienn Ver – 2nd Lady.
Andrea Newport – 3rd Lady.
There were fantastic performances right through the field, with personal bests being set and first-time swims completed for many swimmers. Looking forward to 2015 already!
That’s the official race report completed. You can expect an alternative view on the event in another post later in the week. With so many pictures and sub-plots to the day, I hardly know where to begin.
We hope everyone had a great day. Thank you to all participants and the many volunteers for helping to raise money for the RNLI. That is what it’s all about. Enjoy the night – you’ve earned it!
The RNLI Myrtleville to Church Bay (entrance to Cork Harbour) 2km open water sea swim takes place on Saturday, 28th June, 2014 at 5.30pm on an incoming tide.
We will open up the entries in April. Some more details here. Get in the sea early and often to prepare!
It was an absolutely fantastic day on Saturday, with a challenging sea bringing the best out of all 101 swimmers. We had an incredible performance from the winner, Ethan O’Brien, in a time of 24:43. Carol Cashell continued her winning streak with third place overall and first lady in 28:25. Special mention also for Neddie Irwin, age 10, who finished in 33:22 for 18th place overall, leaving lots of big names in his wake.
All swimmers came in under 55 minutes, supported throughout by the RNLI, Civil Defence, Coast Guard, Funkytown kayakers and numerous volunteers in boats, kayaks and on land who gave their time and equipment freely. Thank you very much to everyone. Over €1,200 was raised for the RNLI – and that is what it’s all about.
We’re going to need a bigger beach next year – Participants 2013.
Overall winner, Ethan O’Brien with Gary Heslin, RNLI and Bernard Lynch.
Ladies winner, Carol Cashell with Gary Heslin, RNLI and Bernard Lynch.
Neddie Irwin with Gary Heslin, RNLI and Bernard Lynch.
With participant numbers growing quickly, we will look at next year’s event and plan to make it even better. Thanks to everyone who helped and participated.
Myrtleville Swimmers 