Slathill Swimming

My family decided to go to Galway for the bank holiday weekend. Just to the west of the city is the wonderful sea-side resort of Slathill. I was used to swimming there and we brought the kayak with us. So I decided to do a two-way Prom Swim, from the Blackrock Diving Boards to Grattan Road Beach and back. A total distance of 4,000m.

When we arrived, the sun was splitting the stones, the tide was full and the sea was calm. We quickly got ready and began the swim. The water was quite warm and there was a light breeze pushing us up towards the beach. It was a wonderful experience, the water was clean and clear. We swam past the Galway Bay Hotel, Lesiureland, Seapoint and the Galway Atlantiquaria. At the aquarium, the temperature suddenly dropped due to the output form the tanks...brrr! After 33mins we arrived at Grattan Road Beach, where the beachgoers seemed stunned at the idea of someone swimming all the way from Blackrock. They seemed even more suprised when, after a quick break, we turned and headed back. The whole swim took a total of 1hr 8mins.