An open-water swimmer made his way from Baltimore to Mizen Head in just under eleven hours to raise funds for the RNLI, pioneering a new route.
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Owen O'Keefe (33), who works as an ecologist and is based in Fermoy, started his 39km swim at Baltimore Harbour.
He continued south of Sherkin Island and Cape Clear via the Fastnet Lighthouse to the Mizen Peninsula, marking the first successful completion of the route.
But this wasn't Owen's first record-breaking swim: he has a few under his belt, including one across the English Channel aged 16 in 10 hours 19 minutes in 2009, making him the youngest Irish person to swim this distance.
'We started in Baltimore just after midnight and I was half way around Cape Clear when it started to get a bit bright and I could see where I was,' said Owen, who has raised more than €3,000 for the RNLI with the swim to date.
'It was a bit of a hard stretch to the Fastnet but I picked up the pace and got into a good position.'
He said there was a south-easterly wind blowing in the direction he was going in. 'In the end I didn't have to fight the tide,' said Owen, who had a short break every 30 minutes when his support crew provided food and cheered him on.
Ballydehob endurance swimmer Steve Redmond attempted the Baltimore to Mizen route in 2022.
He followed Owen's progress via GPS tracking and a Whattsapp group where live updates of the swim were shared with 200 supporters.
'I was delighted that Steve was following my progress. He called me afterwards and it was great to hear how excited he was and that he got some enjoyment out of it,' said Owen.
The experienced swimmer was followed by a boat with a crew including Anna Maria Mullally and record-breaking swimmer Brian Foster (18), both from Kinsale, along with observers Nathan Timmins and Kevin Dennehy from the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association.
Kieran Collins, of the Fastnet Swim, was also on board to witness Owen's peak performance, guiding him along the route.
The Fastnet is known as Ireland's Teardrop, as Owen pointed out, because it was often the last impression many emigrants had of home as they sailed to new shores.
The Fermoy swimmer completed his first solo swim 18 years ago around Britain's southernmost point, Lizard Point in Cornwall, also raising funds for the local RNLI lifeboat at the time.
He said he was thinking of all the lives lost around the Fastnet before the record-breaking swim and the many links between this area and Cornwall.
He praised RNLI frontline crews for their professionalism and volunteer work.
Owen said West Cork was one of his favourite places to swim because of its rich wildlife.
He has swam in Lough Hyne and was the first person to swim around Sherkin Island and Cape Clear.
