Resting up....

As I lie in bed typing and resting, my fellow Aussie swimmer Chloe McCardel is out in the Channel, on her way back to England. I met Chloe during her stay in Clonakilty, Co Cork and we had a lovely swim, freaking out a few lifeguards in the process, and a lovely chat after numerous bowls of chips. Her two way attempt seems to be going well, she's flying it. You can track her progress here. Awesome job Chloe! Go Aussie Go! Channel 9 on board for all you intersted Australians out there. Another exciting day!

Great weekend in Valentia...

Channel Aspirants and Coach Eilís Burns before the Beginish Island Swim

The weather again left a bit to be desired, but fun was had by all anyway. The swim around Beginish Island looked dodgy right up until we were given the go ahead in the briefing. The swim was tough, but fantastic. Similar to last year, we got in just as the weather was closing in. Safely into the bar afterwards for food, awards and large volumes of drink for everyone it seemed except me! A great night, loads of fun.

Had a lovely swim with Lisa Cummins and Liz Buckley on Sunday to clear the heads, and then home to Cork, on the way getting news that Liam Maher, the first of our Cork bunch to go to Dover had been given the go ahead for 4.30am this morning. I normally find it difficult moving quickly on a Monday morning, especially after being away, but I lept out of bed and down the stairs to get the update as soon as my eyes opened!

He's still out there, doing well, with all of his Cork supporters behing him. Go Liam, Go!

More fun swims...

Well, the weather didn't hold up for Nick and Simone's swim last Saturday, so we had an alternate route, which was just as much fun. We were treated to a lovely barbeque in the lashing rain afterwards. Great food and even better company. Back to the hotel steamroom and sauna to warm up, and then to the beach bar for a few drinks with the rest of the gang. All in all, a lovely day and night. The following day, I was heading for a swim with Imelda Lynch, Ossie Schmidt and Rob Bohane. We decided to start at the beach and swim to the original start point of the race (had the weather allowed) and back again. A local swimmer had been training for the full swim for a while and was disappointed when it was cancelled, and when he discovered that we were heading over and back, he briefly contemplated joining us. Instead, he went for a shorter swim around the bay while we headed over, but he looked disgusted! Next thing we know, we're half way over and a rib goes past us with Gavin Hennessey on board, with a big grin on his face and waving wildly. He had got a spin over and was going to join us on the way back.

It was brilliant. Every time we stopped, the comments coming from Gavin were priceless and he had a ball, which in turn meant we had a ball too!

A big congratulations to Gavin who achieved his goal and loved every bit of it. It was a pleasure to have been there.

This weekend, we're in Valentia, Co Kerry, for another fun swim tomorrow, 6km around Beginish Island. Weather not looking too special for that one either, but if an alternate route is necessary, I'm sure it'll be great too.

Fantastic 8 hour swim....

Ok, so the weather didn't settle at all, can't remember when it rained so much except for our last lovely Irish summer, but it does make me realise how lucky I have been with my training all along-it could have been like this the whole time! Despite the downpour, we were lucky enough to get a window of opportunity to get my 8 hour swim behind me yesterday. It went really well, couldn't have been better, conditions went from flat to choppy, Derek and Mick my fabulous crew members fed me flawlessly from the kayak, which mustn't have been easy in the rain, and trying to fill my bottles with hot water from a flask while balancing the kayak must have been fun! Got stung by loads of nasty jellies and attacked by sea lice, but figure that this is now one more element of surprise out of the way if it happens on the day. Tired getting out but delighted. My last long swim before THE swim! Thanks heaps to my support team and to Simone Mulcahy who had the tea and chocolates ready!
Looking forward to Nick and Simone's swim today which should be fun and relaxing. Hope the weather improves just a bit for them!

A great week so far....

Had a couple of great swims so far this week. Early morning starts, but worth it! Feeling strong and looking forward to some great training, and maybe a small bit of misbehaving (what's that again?) in Caherdaniel, Co Kerry this weekend. Hope the weather is someway settled!

Fundraising fun...

A huge thanks goes to the brilliant kids who helped with bag packing at Tesco the other day to help raise funds for Barretstown, giving up an afternoon of their holidays. The icecream and chocolate bribes were not even needed (although vanished anyway) not a moan or groan from any of them, in fact, I found it hard to get them to stop. In total they raised €934.00 in just 5 hours. A huge well done and thanks again to Niamh and Caelan Hurley, Marie and Paraic O'Leary, Eimear O'Leary, Lorraine Dromey, Aisling McCarthy, Ashgan O'Dea and Niamh Ni Chuanachain.

Not long to go....

The excitement is building! Have had a few intensive training weeks, one or two more to go before the tapering period starts. Met some other Channel aspirants from the UK during Ned Denison's training camp-great to get a different perspective on training techniques and things to bring on the boat etc.. Very tiring, but great fun to swim in different locations around Cork for the week.
Had a brilliant 6 hour swim at Warren Beach in Rosscarbery last weekend with Ciaran Byrne and Gabor Monar. What a pretty place to swim. Felt strong and happy with the way the swim went.
Lat week I met a coule of fellow Aussies, Chloe McCardel and her boyfiend Paul McQueeney. Paul successfully crossed the Channel last year and Chloe is attempting her 2 way crossing in a coule of weeks. Had a lovely swim at Inchadoney in Clonakilty with Chloe and Derek and a great chat afterwards. Great to get the Aussie perspective on things!
Looking forward to the weeks ahead with a coule of trips to beautiful Kerry, and warmer water ahead!