Record attempts beneath the waves

SETTING one world record in a lifetime would probably be enough for most people. However, diver Christy Healy is set to take on an even greater challenge this summer by making an amazing four record attempts, including an underwater dive from Scotland to Northern Ireland.
Christy, originally from Kilmaley but living in Barefield, set the world record in 2011 for completing a 10 kilometre underwater dive without surfacing in Lough Derg. The dive raised funds for the Share a Dream Foundation.
This summer Christy is hoping to raise even more for both Share a Dream and Temple Street Hospital with his four record attempts.
On July 7, Christy will return to Lough Derg to try and beat his time of six hours and 21 minutes for the 10km dive.
He is confident he will be able to make the dive in six hours, after coming up with a new method of changing his diving bottles.
If he crosses the finish line in time, there won’t be a chance to celebrate, as Christy is planning to continue his dive for a further 10km, hopefully setting a new world record.
However, that’s not the end for Christy’s record-breaking efforts, describing these events as “training sessions” for the big dive planned in August.
“Between the last two weekends in August, the exact date depends on the weather, I’m planning to dive from Scotland to Northern Ireland.

“I will be leaving Scotland from the Mull of Kintyre and it’s about a 22km distance straight across. But it has very heavy currents, so it will probably be more like 35km of an overall distance. Nobody has ever done this before,” he explained.
As well as being the first to attempt this dive, Christy is also hopeful that the crossing will be considered for another Guinness World Record for the longest dive, which was broken last year in Galway.
“The time it will take me to cross will be over 20 hours underwater. The world record for the longest dive in Ireland was beaten in Galway Bay last year and that was over 13 hours but it was a different kind of dive. I will be underwater for longer than that. We will video the lot to show I’m underwater the whole time but whether they let us have the record, I don’t know. We will have to talk to them.”
He is confident that the record attempts will be a success. “It’s all to do with preparation and if we prepare right, we will do it,” he said.
Christy has been training for these mammoth tasks in both Ennis swimming pool and River Lodge Fitness Centre at the Auburn Lodge Hotel.
“The lake is a bit cold at the moment. I’m just about able to do an hour and a half in the lake. Any more than that and you start turning into an ice cube. I’m just getting up the lengths in the pool and I’m very appreciative of the two pools for giving me the time to do the training,” he said.
Among the plans for the dives are the possibility of setting up a live video feed that will allow supporters to see first hand Christy’s progress and efforts are currently being made to get sponsorship for the attempts.
The experienced diving instructor’s initial record attempt began after he saw first hand the work of Share a Dream when his son, Stephen, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Stephen has since recovered and Christy is determined to support other families through fundraising.
His efforts have already been making waves across the pond, with vice-president of the Clare Athletic Association in New York, Kevin Grady paying him a visit recently.
Helping him in his endeavour is his cousin and manager of River Lodge, Gerry O’Halloran.
Gerry said, “Over the last six months we have been in talks with the association about getting involved with what we are doing here. The Clare Association are like a home away from home for many Clare people, and others, who have travelled to New York. We were delighted to welcome Mr Grady to meet with Christy and talk about what we are planning to do.”
A Facebook page has already been set up for the 20km event in Killaloe. A number of fundraisers have been planned, including a 10-mile run from the River Lodge on August 25 and a night in Hillery’s, Spanish Point on April 13. Christy is encouraging more people to get behind the record attempts and he is open to attending schools to talk about the events and the charities.
Gerry added, “There are so many people out there willing to do something for charity, you can see the good in this country.”
Anybody who wants to get involved in supporting the initiative can contact Christy at atlanticdivingschool@gmail.com or 086 0570544.