Plan A on Friday evening last was to swim from the Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat slip, out around Ballycotton lighthouse and back to the lifeboat slip. The August weather had other ideas. The event organisers arrived in Ballycotton at 3:30pm, reviewed the conditions in Ballycotton Bay and put Plan B into action. Three buoys were placed in the Bay and the 45 swimmers had to swim around these to complete the 3.5 km swim.
The swim was organised by the Munster Open Water Swimming Organisation and they travelled from as far as Limerick in the west to Waterford in the east and places in between. The swimmers ranged in age from 13 to 65 years. They were started in five different groups, at five minute intervals, the
slower starting first and the fastest in the last group. By doing this the field would have tightened up towards the end of the swim. Each group was accompanied by kayakers for the entire swim. The organisers had two ribs in the area also. The Ballycotton RNLI all weather lifeboat, Austin Lidbury,
kept careful watch over the swimmers in the middle of Ballycotton Bay and their boarding boat, with two lifeboat crewmembers aboard, moved throughout the entire route.
There was a sprint for the finish between two swimmers, who completed the course in 50 minutes. The camaraderie among the group was infectious and the many onlookers felt involved. Having swum the 3.5 km course they then waited on the Ballycotton lifeboat slip for the other contestants to finish.
One of the organisers, Carol Cashell, explained that all entrants had to have swum a 3 km open water competition previously to qualify. She related that the swimmers enjoy the freedom of swimming long distances in the open water. Carol confirmed 32 did this swim last year, when they successfully
swam around Ballycotton lighthouse, 6 have swum the English Channel, 6 have done the Straits of Gibraltar and 2 have swum around Manhattan Island in the US. When asked about the weather conditions and how they affected the swimmers she explained that they don't particularly like the sunny days as this blinds them. They would have been happy enough with the misty evening they were faced with. However, by the end of the swim the sun shone on this harty group.
This event was a fundraising effort for Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat. Initially an email was sent to 150 swimmers listed on the Sandycove mailing list. By the morning of the event, Friday 19 August, 45 swimmers, 14 kayakers and 2 ribs had volunteered their time and energy to help raise funds for our lifeboat service. Carol explained that the swimmers have done swims such as this for other lifeboat stations in Co. Cork, e.g. Courtmacsherry, Kinsale, Crosshaven. As a charity the RNLI appreciates
efforts such as this in support of their lifeboats which offers a free service to those in trouble at sea. When the swim was finished and all swimmers had safely completed the course they left with the promise that they would be back again next year.
