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:

RNLI Myrtleville – Church Bay swim 2015: 8 weeks to go!

Posted on May 9, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

The RNLI Myrtleville to Church Bay (entrance to Cork Harbour) 2km open water sea swim takes place on Saturday 4th July at 6.00pm on an incoming tide. Entry fee is €15, payable on the evening and donated to Crosshaven RNLI, but you must have submitted your entry online.

All participants must be able to verify a minimum of one 1,500m open water swim in 2015. We strongly recommend you have done a longer distance – or several 1,500m swims. This is a fantastic, but challenging swim and not to be attempted without proper preparation.

If you want to practice, come to Myrtleville any Monday night at 6pm or Saturdays at 08.15. For information, email us – myrtlevilleswimmers@gmail.com, tweet @MyrtlevilleS or follow this website for updates.

Start of the first swim in 2010.

Darkness into Light SWIM – May 9th, 2015

Posted on May 5, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

From Carol Cashell and Angela Harris:

To coincide with the Pieta House Darkness into Light Events, (See their page here) we are holding a Darkness into Light Swim at Myrtleville (as an alternative to the 80 runs being planned that morning!).

Meet by 4:45am & Swim at 5:00am on Sat 9^th May (Twilight is at 05:10, Sunrise is at 05:50).

Some Notes on the Swim:

There will be a donation Bucket for contributions to Pieta House.
Meet by 4:45am
Safety Briefing at 4:55am (and we will number everyone’s hands for check-in/check-out)
TITW (Toes in the Water!) by 5:00am
Swim a Max of 30mins (for safety reasons, please adhere). Whatever your speed, turn back after 10-15mins. 5mins is also an acceptable swim time.
DO NOT swim on your own, swim in 2s/3s, stick with your swim buddy so you can talk to them to check in with each other, don’t swim in huge groups, you’d be calling names all the time and your voices will travel over the water!. There will be less stop/starting with smaller groups.
Respect the time of day, arrive quietly, avoid shouting, slamming doors etc, common sense really, just be mindful of the sleeping residents.
We will meet at the bottom of the steps at 4:45, away for the houses to make sure we are all glowing.
As the colour of Pieta House is yellow, if you have a yellow hat, or a hat with yellow in it, wear it, it’ll be our nod to the Cause.
Remember it’s only May, expect the air to be cool at that hour. Have the layers of clothes ready for after the swim, and of course the Hot Flask for a cuppa!.
Bring a Flash light, you’d be surprised what you can’t find in the dark in the car!
After you get changed, and have your cuppa, and are wrapped up warm, enjoy the sunrise 🙂

As this is a night swim (to start), swimmers must have glow sticks on their hats and togs/wetsuits.

There is a link below to show you what the disposable single use glow sticks are like. These are an ideal alternative to the pricier reusable light (but that does have hundreds of hours light on it). It’s worth it to buy a batch of the snap&glow sticks if you will be doing more night swims over the next year or so!

There are cheap jewellery disposable versions in EuroGiant/Dealz etc, but these are not very bright out at sea and they tend to not stay in place too easily (they are not really made for sea swimming!). These should only be used as fun top-ups to the better stronger glow sticks. Plan ahead, do some research online, pair up with someone to share the costs of buying the glow sticks (share shipping costs etc).

Check these out on Amazon as an example of what you are looking for, for one time use, glow sticks. There is also an Irish Website that sells them.

The reusable night lights for your goggle straps are Called ‘Guardian Adventure lights’ (they can be bought in Centra Crosshaven or CH Marine, Cork). If you want to buy them online, just Click!

Finally, I shouldn’t have to remind you, but as always, this swim is weather dependent :-

And Really this is a Finally, If anyone is willing to help out and stay on the beach while we swim and count us in/out, we’d love to have you, and also, anyone willing to kayak, we’d love to have you there too.. We’ll feed you coffee and cake (well, maybe not cake at 5am, but the offer stands!).

Lies, lies – it’s all lies!

Posted on May 1, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Last Saturday, Sean Foley purchased a new Myrtleville Hat in Lynch’s Centra. Followers of this site might remember Sean as the man who swore blind, crossed his heart and spat five times on a gypsy’s right hand that he would be down swimming a couple of weeks back. No sign. So, by way of making up for this, he announced he would buy a hat and take it to Silicon Valley this week, where he’d use it in an open water pool and in SF Bay.

After a few days, he posted the following picture on d’interweb.

Open water, sea swimming in Cork, Ireland.

Sean Foley in ~~Silicon Valley, San Francisco~~, Youghal?

We were all duly impressed that Sean was in San Francisco and awaited proper pictures of the sea. And we awaited. And waited. And awaited again.

With time on their hands, some experts noted that the supposedly 50m open water pool in the background looked an awful lot like Brookfield. Others queried Sean’s reasoning that he hadn’t been able to go into SF Bay as there might be great white sharks within 14 miles (he was very precise). No shark would attack a Hat wearer (note: incomplete research on this. Swim with sharks at your own risk, whether wearing Hat or otherwise).

Finally, body language experts noted that in the picture, Sean was clearly looking to the right – the classic tell for LIARS (note: some research has disproved this, but we don’t believe it. They’re LIARS too).

So, for the first time, we have a Hat Fraud. We await Sean’s return from Glanmire or Youghal or wherever to defend himself, or accept his sentence of a quick dip on the next calm day of our choosing.

Calm day, thank God.

Weaver’s Point Swimming Club

Posted on April 26, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

With thanks to Michael Holland, University Curator in UCC and the fantastic Irish Examiner Archives, here are some more pictures and cuttings about the swimming club at Weaver’s Point / Graball from the 1930s to the 1950s. Our predecessors!

First a report on the club gala in 1935. I’d love to know what the distance was for the long-distance race mentioned. Also, was the man on the left the winner of the wetsuit category?

Examiner 1841-1959, Monday, August 26, 1935

Picture from the 1937 gala below – it’s a bit blurry, but look at the crowds!

Examiner 1841-1959, Tuesday, August 24, 1937

No picture from the 1947 “At Home”, but a report below. I’d love to know what the “amusing novelty event” referred to was.

Irish Examiner 1841-1959, Tuesday, September 02, 1947

In an advertisement from 1939, it’s interesting to see that a well-developed social scene was in place in the club. Maybe we should resurrect this one! Bernard could drive the late bus for us.

Examiner 1841-1959, Friday, July 28, 1939

Finally – to my amazement – there was a clipping that shows that the introduction of Myrtleville Swimmers as Property Porn and using OWS as a way to shift property was by no means without historical precedent in the area. Miss Healy, below, clearly knew that the glamorous lifestyle of the open water swimmer would draw in the punters.

Irish Examiner 1841-1959, Friday, March 27, 1959;

Thanks again to Michael Holland. We have located some other larger pictures and are looking to get them scanned. I’ll post them when we have them.

Ould fellas.

Posted on April 24, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

Ould fellas will get beaten by young fellas eventually. That’s what came into my head the other day looking at some photos. A few examples – two from the same families, one not.

Some of you may remember a great local swimmer (really local – actually lives in Myrtleville), Sham Riordan. It’s so long since he’s been seen in the water, it’s only the old-timers will be able to put a face to the name (Note: effort to shame him into coming back). He turned up recently for look at where he used to swim (it’s at the bottom of the hill where he lives) and brought one of the reasons for his absence with him.

Former swimmer, Sham Riordan, pays a visit to the beach for Breda’s birthday swim. Just to watch, though. It was tiring – especially for James Riordan.

The picture made me think that in about ten years or so, James will be ripping past the likes of me out to the Dutchman, cruising at 1.30 / 100m and not even drawing breath. Of course, I’m a slow ould fella as it is. Sham might still be ahead of him for a year or two – he’s fast, is Sham – but time is very much on James’ side.

That’s what happens, though. Keep feeding them and they’ll leave you behind in the water. Or the bike & road, as J. Slowey Jnr. is showing Snr. the way these days.

James Slowey Jnr – Winner. James Slowey Snr – The one with the beard.

The picture that made me start thinking about young fellas passing out ould fellas, though, was the one below. And not necessarily their ould fellas either – ould fellas in general. Even really fast ould fellas.

Taken at the Lee Swim in 2008, this picture features a former captain of the Barr’s U14 Féile hurling team and a treble winner of the Myrtleville – Church Bay swim.

Ned Denison is in the picture too. Ned has yet to win the premier event in the Irish OWS calendar – the Church Bay swim, of course – and he can’t hurl (no touch).

Myrtleville-Church Bay champion 2010, 2011 and 2012, former Féile captain and reigning Lee Swim champion, Chris Mintern, on the other hand…..

Low profile, black hats. For when you don’t want to be seen.

Posted on April 23, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

There was a bit of a discussion about swim hat colours at the beach lately, as the number of swimmers back in the sea grows quite quickly. Not a fashion discussion – a safety one. As the Summer season begins, it’s good to think about safety again.

A quick scan of safety rules for open water swims online came up with these:

Brightly coloured swim caps to aid visibility while in the water must be worn.
Standard kit would include wetsuit, goggles, high visibility swim hat, flip flops, towel, changing mat, and water proof watch.
High visibility swim caps are worn by swimmers to make ocean swimming safer.
A high visibility swim cap shows where you are – especially valuable if there are boats passing by.
All swimmers must wear a high visibility swim cap.

I stopped after five events – I reckoned it was clear enough. I couldn’t find any that said “cool, black or dark, invisibility-inducing caps must be worn“. I looked – really.

This, for example, is a high visibility swim cap:

It’s easy to see in the sea. See?

Here’s one that isn’t high visibility:

It’s cool, black, low-profile – AND BLOODY USELESS IN THE SEA UNLESS YOU WANT TO PLAY SUBMARINES!

So, jokes aside, black is great in the pool. Totes the coolest. For the sea – go bright. As bright as you like.

Absolutely worthwhile to re-read this from Tom McCarthy, as the boats start to reappear around Myrtleville as well: Stay Safe. Swim Safe.

Dance Troupe – Here come the girls.

Posted on April 22, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

It was only a matter of time. With Eddie missing for months and Jumpin’ J skipping rehearsals for jaunts to Ballinspittle and Spain (equally lovely destinations, of course) there was clearly a gap to be exploited. As Denis says, leave it to the mnás.

With careful planning and protestations that they just happened to be buying new togs, Carol and Breda got ready with the moves. On Monday night – Voila, The Seaweed Shuffle. Serious candidates for the new Myrtleville troupe – costumes and all.

I believe it was inspired also by Aisling Barry’s new wave (get it?) Harlem Shuffle solo at the weekend. I think Marie was supposed to make it a duo but got caught by a warm one.

As Mr. Finbarr says – it’s all happening in Myrtleville.

The recovery window

Posted on April 21, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

As previously posted, an evening seminar on nutrition was discussed for the swimmers in Myrtleville. Certainly, nutrition does seem to be high on the Myrtlevillian agenda. Rather than a big long seminar, I thought we might just focus on one thing – the golden nutrition period of 45 minutes post-swim, AKA the muscle recovery window.

As the saying goes – here’s the science bit: this is the time when muscles are restored, repaired and regenerated. All of the processes that help repair damaged muscle tissue, build new muscle and replenish muscle energy are activated immediately after exercise. It is almost as if a switch was turned on. However, this switch has a timer. After 45 minutes it automatically turns off. We call this 45 minute interval the “muscle recovery window.” To take full advantage, all you have to is consume the right combination of nutrients within 45 minutes after a workout.

That all sounds fair enough, doesn’t it? I don’t think there’s a problem with getting our elite swimmers to consume nutrients in the 45 minute window, so let’s just focus on six words there – “consume the right combination of nutrients”.

Where in those six words does it say “cake”, “sticky buns”, “custard slices”, “sausages” etc etc etc? Hmmmmm?

Back to the drawing board for the nutrition plan – or the frying pan and oven, maybe.

Warm, fluffy waves.

Posted on April 20, 2015 by myrtlevilleswimmers

I personally didn’t get into swimming because I wanted to do loads of laps or distances in the sea. It’s ended up that way a bit, but I do try to remember the reason I started sea swimming was ~~I was really, really fat: feckin’ huge~~ I absolutely loved splashing in waves at a beach whenever I got the chance. Hours, I’d be in there. Saturday morning was a reminder of that. Not much swimming, but a great start to the day.

Lots of people went in and watched out for each other. Of course, it didn’t look too enticing at first.

Anne hides her real feelings about the state of the sea (or not) while Breda goes into another of her karmic trances (It IS sunny and calm. It IS sunny and calm).

James Slowey was first in and dispensing advice on his way out. “I wouldn’t go in there if I was you”, was the advice. The beard was weighing him down.

You did need to have a bit of focus to get in – gaps in the waves were in short supply.

It was like a bath when you got in, though. Like a bath.

Warm, fluffy waves to snuggle into in Myrtleville. Toasty, like.

Swim tonight at 6.00. Forecast is still a little Easterly but much lighter than the weekend, so hopefully some swimming will be possible. We can’t go playing all the time!

Myrtleville Swimmers

Open Water – Sea Swimming in Cork, Ireland

Tag Archives: Sea Swimming – Cork – Ireland