FROM A TO SEA: Up to Mayo and over to Sherkin! | #6

Siobhan Cronin is The Southern Star's editor. She's also an avid sea swimmer and in her regular blog 'From A to Sea' she documents her sea swimming journey. So get the wetsuit on, dive in and join her on her aquatic adventures

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I’VE mixed feelings about October.

Well, firstly, I kind of love it cos it’s my birthday month, and it means that the winter is coming – I’ve always been more of a winter gal than a sunshine girl.

But then, it also signals a definite change in the way we swim.

Firstly, the wonderful organised charity swims come to an end, except for a few for really elite swimmers and hardy souls.

Secondly, it means a little extra time before and after each swim, with the layers of extra clothes to be donned, and then sorted, rinsed and washed out afterwards.

But it also gives us time to take a breath and be grateful for the summer that’s gone.

This one wasn’t bad, weather-wise, we all agreed.

We completed the last of the big events last month.

Firstly, we had the Great Fjord Swim in mid-September.

Even though it’s nearly a five-hour drive – from West Cork, up through Clare, into Galway and right up to the Mayo border – it’s one of the most fun enjoyable swimming events in the country.

Run by events company Gaelforce, with a charity element, it’s a much more organised affair than the more casual charity events around West Cork.

Several hundred swimming fans decamp to the stunning Killary area of Galway to Ireland’s only genuine fjord – a body of water in the middle of two mountain ranges.

I had taken part last year, but because we were still in the grip of Covid, the 2km swim went from one shore, in a C-shape, back into the shore further along the rugged coastline.

But this year, the boat was back! And that is what many stalwarts of this annual swim said really makes it special and, after our little trip out on the Killary sightseeing boat, we understood the attraction.

The boat is back! Swimmers on the 'Connemara Lady' on their way to the start line of the annual Great Fjord Swim in Killary, Co Galway. (Photo: Gaelforce Events)

The buzz on the boat, the stunning views from the water, and then the little jump off the back to swim to the start line, all make it a very unusual open water event.

Participants come from all over Ireland and abroad, and there is a shorter, 750m version, for newer or hesitant swimmers, that also starts from a boat – a little shrimp vessel.

There is a longer 3.9km for serious swimmers, but the real joy of this event is the after-swim camaraderie – and treats!

Little marquees along the fjord offered soup and bread for the delighted aqua babes, and there was even some hot whiskey for those of us lucky enough to have designated drivers – a shout out to Sue who brought her mini-bus for the West Cork women on tour!

There was Irish trad music and free branded t-shirts and two large dressing marquees, for both female and male participants.

The gorgeous village of Leenane was buzzin’ with swimmers after the swim, and the feeling of everyone being high as kites was palpable. We had booked a room in a nearby hostel for 10 of us water women, with use of the adjacent spa – in fairness, what more could you ask of a weekend away?

A tip for those thinking of doing the same next year – we discovered our swimming ear plugs had a dual purpose, as ten West Cork women let loose in Connemara can make a lot of noise after dark!

Siobhán after finishing her 2km swim in a stunning Killary harbour. (Photo: Gaelforce Events)

The next morning the results were up on the Gaelforce site, showing our final times for what had been a choppy swim at times, albeit under a spectacular blue Galway sky.

I was a bit surprised to see that my time implied I had come in behind most of my buddies, although I knew I was on the shore when they emerged from the water. Confused?

So were we, until we realised two of us must have picked up the wrong official micro-chipped swimming hats when we were changing on the boat, so our timing chips were on the wrong heads. Cue plans to deliberately swap our hats with some super swimmers next year!!

Two weeks later it was time for the Sherkin to Baltimore swim and most of the same wily warriors were signed up for it. A timely fundraiser for the village’s Wild Atlantic Pool, this was going to be my first time competing.

With a different landmark last year, it was decided to revert to the original island-to-mainland route this year, and the swim is just one distance – 2km.

Having negotiated the dark but cool waters of the western Atlantic the previous fortnight, and with the sea looking turquoise and calm as we left the pier at Sherkin, we were all feeling a bit smug.

A bit too smug, as it turned out, because things turned a bit choppy about 20 minutes later!

At one point I felt like I was getting nowhere, because every time I looked to my right, the bloody Beacon seemed to be mocking me.

But I must have been moving, because I eventually saw the slipway at Baltimore looming before me, and Oceans Seven legend Steve Redmond happened to be standing there as I emerged successful from my own tiny challenge, elated.

Poor Steve got the full effect of my gratitude, as I grabbed him for the biggest hug I could summon, given my bewildered and exhausted status.

As we did the swim post-mortem outside Bushe’s bar an hour later, we all noted that there really is no place for complacency in swimming – you just never know what you’re gonna get when you step into the water.

My buddy Anne saw it as a metaphor for life – when the going gets tough, just put one arm in front of the other and keep going, til you get to the other side.

Nothing tastes as good – or is as well earned – as those post-swim pints. Even the ‘zero’ alcohol ones!

And we all agreed that, despite the joy of water, nothing feels quite as good as putting those feet back on terra firma after launching yourself into the Atlantic many minutes earlier.

If you want to get some sense of the sheer delight you feel when you complete one of these great mini challenges, check out the wide ear-to-ear smiles on the faces of every single swimmer emerging from the fjord, as captured by the Gaelforce photographers at Killary in September – the joy is infectious: https://www.facebook.com/GaelforceEvents.

Read Siobhán's previous blog entry by clicking here.