A Quick Update

It might look like I don't have any news for you since I haven't posted anything for a while. Well, surprise, surprise, I do have news; I just haven't had enough time to tell you about it because I have been very busy organising this year's Martin Duggan Memorial Swim in the Blackwater. While I have a chance, here a few quick updates:

1) The open-water season is finally starting to properly get going. I did a 5km swim in the Blackwater at 6am with Ned on Monday and a 7.5km swim today. It is about 11 or 12 Celsius at the moment which is well below the average for this time of year. We have also had some new faces on the river, Stephen Brooks and Conor O'Brien, both 12 from Mitchelstown, did their first ever swim last week. They swam 700m in their skins and it was only 11 degrees. Well done Stephen and Conor!

2) Things are also going well on the sponsorship front. On Tuesday, we had our Transition Year Graduation ( yes, I am on summer holidays). Before receiving our Certs, I was presented with €570 from the TY Mini-Company for the Irish Cancer Society and over €300 from the College Staff. Fermoy Swimming Club also sent me a cheque for €100. I wouldn't expect this as it is I who owe them and the Club is not exactly loaded...

3) In other [competion] news, I am heading up to Cavan tomorrow for the Lough Sheelin 10k National Championships on Sunday. I have never done an official 10k race before so it will be very interesting to see how I get on... and if I get selected for the Irish Panel, although I doubt it somehow.

Well, that's it for the moment. I will post next week to let you know how I get on in Lough Sheelin. Hopefully I will Have a few nice pistures too.

Open-Water.......AT LAST

Finally, the weather has started to get better and the water is warming up. For the last week or so I have been getting into the sea and the resevoir at every opportunity. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with my ability to swim in cold water after such a long winter...

It started with a short swim in the river back in March. It was 7 Celsius and my extra weight proved a big help in keeping out the cold. Then about two weeks ago I headed down to Sandycove with Dave for a lap of the Island. It was warmer than I was expecting but I had completely forgotten how to swim in waves, but I'm sure I will get used to it again quickly. Now we have a a few swims in the Resevoir and Sandycove. My next task is to do a double lap of Sandycove and an hour swim.

Now I am really looking forward to the Distance Camp in Cork for two weeks in June. It is sure to be a great experience with so many swimmers coming from around Ireland and overseas, also the Great Freda Streeter, a.k.a. The Channel General is coming for the Champion of Champions on the 20th and the 7hr swim on the 21st.

Nothing much else to say really only that everything is on track and it's only four or five weeks to the summer holidays... Just a reminder to say thanks to everyone who as sponsored me so far, there have been some really great donations on the website, keep them coming.

Click here to DONATE...

Also, check out Lisa Cummins' blog. Lisa is from Blackrock in Cork and is also swimming the same week as me. But she is swimming all the way to France and back again! It's certainly worth having a read...

Stepping up the training...

In January, I knew that the training that I was doing wasn't enough, but I wasn't sure either how much or what type of training I should be doing. So when Ned, e-mailed me to see if I would like to do a 20km swim in Source Pool, I was delighted. I would get one big pool swim in and get to meet coach Eilís Burns. Eilís has coached 8 out of 8 successful Cork Channel Swimmers. She was the person to put me on the right track.

When I told her that I was only doing 25km a week, I'm sure she was appalled! I was a bit surprised when she said that I should be doing 45km every week and 60km a few weeks in March, but after a few more of the 20km pool swims, I thik it sounds alot more achievable. This week however I have no long swim in Source so I will have to slog it out in Fermoy. I have the free training, so I better make use of it.

The last two weeks I dis 48.5km and 47.2km so this week I am aiming for about the same. Will be updating again soon....

Oops... I almost forgot I had a blog!

Ok, it has been a fairly long time since my last post. Firstly, on New Year's Eve there was a charity swim in Garryvoe in East Cork. One of my friends who goes to Coláiste an Phiarsaigh in Glanmire is going to Kolkata(formerly Clacutta) later in the year with the Hope Foundation. He and a few others decidi to run a charity swim in Garryvoe to raise funds for the trip.

There was a good crowd turned up. Even with all of the planning, one important detail was forgotten, the tide, wich if you get it wrong in Garryvoe means that you have a long trudge out to swimmable water. It was windy and rough, but the swim was very enjoyable. I say the "swim", for most people it was more of a splash and dash event. Except for Maria Sheehan who managed to stay in for a minute or two. I managed to do 11mins after the horrible twisting injury I did to my knee on entering the water. The beacjh is covered in little craters and it's easy to fall into them when they are submerged. Alltogether it was a nice event to pass away New Year's Eve and to raise money for charity.


Also, last weekend my family went to Dublin for my Dad's birthday. While we were there I decided that it might be a good idea to go to the National Aquatic Centre. I got to have a good swim in their 50m, 10-lane Olympic sized pool and later I went with my brother and sister to the leisure part of the Centre. The 50m pool was fantastic, and I didn't get stuck behnd lots of slow people and have to turn every 20secs! Since I am still a child I get to enjoy things like waterslides, and the NAC had really good ones! I also got to try out the "flow-rider", a kind of artificial wave for boarding on. It's a bit tricky at first but once you get the hang of it it's great fun.


The NAC is a truly magnificant faclilty, it's a sort of Croke Park of Irish swimming. I do hope that it survives long enough for everyone to enjoy it. And I promise, it won't be too long before my next post!

Some sponsorship...

When I first decided that I was going to swim the Channel I realised that it was going to be a very expensive goal. I thought that it would be a good idea to get alot of the funds I needed from a corporate sponsor. I recently wrote a letter to Riordan's SuperValu, Fermoy, explaining what I was doing and that I would be very happy if they could help me out a bit. Two weeks later, I got a cheque for €1,000 in the post. Since then alot of people have said that they would like to sponsor both the charity and my own expenses. So with a few extra hours at work I should do fine.

So it's thanks a million to the Riordans and evryone who has helped me out so far... Also, I would like to wish everyone a [belated] Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

SAVE FERMOY WEIR...!

Everyone, please help save the weir that makes the beautiful River Blackwater what it is! Without our weir, Fermoy would never be the same. No more swimming, no more rowing, no more diving, etc, etc, etc... We have to stop the Dept. Energy, Communications & Natural Resources before they take away our beautiful river.

The proposed plans for the weir will destroy everything that makes Fermoy special. For one, my training for the Channel Swim will be severly hamperred and many fond memories will be lost. There are far more practical, cheaper and above all, safer allternatives available. Check out the website: http://www.fermoyweir.wordpress.com/ for more information...

Don't make us say goodbye to this...!

November...

With winter beginning to set in the time has come to start into some serious pool training. It is also time to start bringing all of the l;ogistics of making a Channel Swim together. One of the things that alot of people choose to combine their swim with is raising money for a chosen charity. I had always intended to do this but was having trouble picking out the charity that I wanted to support. Well, on the morning of Thursday 6th November 2008 my mind was made up for me.

On the 1st October my Grandmother was informed that she had cancer that had spread throughout her body and that there was no treatment available. The only thing to do now was to bring her home and make her as comfortable as possible. There were a few people who this would not have been possible without. My Grandfather, her husband of 44yrs who gave her 24hr attention, my mother, who was able to understand and administer all of the medication, our family doctor, Dr. O'Grady, who came at least twice every day, and the Irish Cancer Society, who's Night Nursing service proved to be invaluable.

The Irish Cancer Society is funded totally by voluntary donations and receive no government funding. They are committed to finding new ways of preventing and curing cancer and providing the best care possible for those who are terminally ill. By being in the house at night, the night nurse gives the family a chance to have some rest and are there to support everyone when death is near.

I am swimming the Channel in memory of my Grandmother, who was looking forward emmensly to the event, and to raise funds for this worthy organisation. You can see their website by following this link: Irish Cancer Society, and you can visit my fundraising page at http://www.mycharity.ie/event/ec4cancer. All donations made on the MyCharity.ie website are very secure and are very much appreciated.

Thanks for your support.

Party in Monkstown...

Last week I went to a party in Ned's house for all of the Cork people who swam the Channel in 2008. Aside from all the previous Cork soloers, there were some very distinguished guests. I got to meet David Yudovin IMSHOF, I won't even go into all of the amazing swims that he has done, I'd be here all day, let's just say that it was amazing to meet him. Also Dave Whyte was there, he piloted all of the previous Cork swimmers but unfortunately he is retiring this year. He is also the newest inductee into IMSHOF. It was great to meet someone who had so much experience in Channel swimming. David and Evelyn of Varne Ridge Caravan Park were there also. They were very nice and I am looking forward to meeting them in Dover next year.

As part of the evening we also got to see all the inspirational photographs in Rob Bohane's swim from Sceilig Mhichíl and Ned's swim around Valentia Island. Eilís Burns, who coached all of the Cork soloers, gave a nice speech about all of her swimmers and gave them some amuzing presents that represented there character. Rob received a certificate form IMSHOF recognising his Sceilig swim and I also got one for my Crosshaven to Blackrock swim. Overall it was a fantastic evening, and needless to say, Anne's cooking was top notch!