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Festival to make a €250,000 splash


Members of Ireland’s high-performance swimming squad, including Shannon’s Chris Bryan and Olympic hopeful Gráinne Murphy, will plunge into Lough Derg in September to compete in the i3 Open Water Swimming Festival in Killaloe.

 

While the participation of such accomplished swimmers will be an added bonus, the financial returns to the local economy from the mass participation in the second hosting of Shannon Region’s i3 Open Water Swimming Festival is expected to be in the region of €250,000.

Details of this year’s event, on Lough Derg on September 29 and 30, were unveiled at a special launch event at the University of Limerick Activity Centre at Two-Mile Gate, on the outskirts of Killaloe, earlier in the week.

The announcement follows a successful inaugural i3 Open Water Swimming Festival last year, which generated an ­estimated €250,000 for the local economy and attracted 900 spectators and competitors, a quarter of which were from outside the Shannon Region.

This open water swim event is once again being organised by Shannon Development and the University of Limerick Activity Centre, with the support of the Shannon Region Conference and Sports Bureau, North Tipperary County Council and Clare County Council.

Speaking about the importance of the event, Paul Ryan, tourism marketing manager, Shannon Development, revealed that open water swimming is one of the fastest-growing mass participation sports in Ireland and the UK.

“The Shannon Region has become a well-established sports tourism brand and ­benefits the local economy to the tune of €60 million ­annually.  Developing and building on events like this and establishing new events are critical for the future of the sports tourism sector,” he said.

A major boost to the event for 2012 is the commitment from Ronald Claes, Irish ­Olympic swimming coach and Ireland’s high-performance swimming squad, which includes athletes such as Chris Bryan and Gráinne Murphy.

This year’s i3 festival will again take place at the UL Activity Centre near Killaloe and will involve a number of exciting swim challenges. These challenges will include the 1/2mile swim, An Snamh Beag, the one-mile swim, The Shannon Mile and the 5k swim, The Long Swim to Tipperary.

The 5k swim, taking place on the Sunday will be the main attraction. The swim is aimed at more accomplished swimmers and will start at the UL Activity Centre, Two-Mile Gate and finish at the Ballina Water Park recreational area.

With swim distances to suit all abilities, the whole family can get involved and enjoy the clean waters of Lough Derg.

For further information and entry details on the i3 Open Water Swimming Festival, visit www.i3swim.com or contact Paul Ryan, Shannon Development, on 061 361555.

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