Swimmers battle the elements for Temple Street

IN terrible conditions and against the odds, 13 swimmers successfully reached Doolin Pier after swimming 13km and raising €15,000 for charity at the weekend.
The group were raising money for Temple Street Children’s Hospital by doing what one participant described as “a horrible, horrible swim” which took some of them more than four and a half hours to complete.
“I suppose it was a success in that we managed to do it but it was a horrible, horrible swim. I don’t think even the Coast Guard believed we could do it,” said Ennis resident Pat Finn, who participated in the event.
The group met at Doolin at 10am on Saturday and took part in a safety briefing with the Coast Guard before taking the ferry to Inis Oirr and beginning what turned out to be one of the toughest swims some of them had ever undertaken.
As the crow flies, the distance between Inis Oirr and Doolin Pier is 10km but after strong winds took them off course, each of the participants did an average of 13km before reaching their destination.
Seamus Mulcahy, Aoife Cosgrove, Colm Fitzgerald, Linda Clarke, Pat Finn, Adrian Cosgrove, Niall O’Farrell, Kevin O’Farrell, Cian O’Sullivan, Mikey, Donal McCarthy, Paul Kearney and Deirdre Kearney took part in the gruelling swim.
“Everything looked fantastic from Inis Oirr because the beach is in a sheltered cove. We got great support from the people there and the priest even came down to see us off. He brought a crucifix for each of the kayakers and he also brought blessed sand in a tradition where every boat that leaves the island brings some of the blessed sand with it,” Pat recalled.
It was force 4 winds when they travelled over on the boat with a 2m swell. During the swim it increased to 2.5m. 
“We started in stages. The slower swimmers went off first and then the faster ones at the back at 15-minute intervals. The swim was lovely at the start. The swell was big and was kind of like a rollercoaster at times. It would carry you up and then drop you down. It was grand though. But our route was meant to be right off Crab Island except the wind took us to the left so we had to swim against the current and the waves to get back on course,” said Pat.
After two hours and forty-five minutes, the first of the swimmers arrived in Doolin. The last swimmer got to the pier after a four-and-a-half hour journey.
“We were wrecked and frozen and hungry. We were battered by the waves at Crab Island. At least with a marathon you know the distance and it is always 26.2 miles but we didn’t know how far we had left at any point. One of the hardest things was psychological – because we were taken to the left we had to swim parallel to the shore against the current at one point and you would swim for ages and feel like you hadn’t got anywhere,” Pat recounted.
To date the group have raised €15,000 but are still accepting donations and are hoping to reach €20,000.
“After three hours in the water, I started getting cold and I was still going against the choppy waves. That is what made it miserable. Three of the swimmers and two of the kayakers got sick. So I think we deserve every penny we made from it,” Pat laughed.
“The following day I couldn’t lift my arm above my head but the general feeling was that it was a horrible swim and nobody will do it again. If we got a better day it would have been a lot easier,” he concluded.
More information is available on www.facebook.com/pages/Swim-Aran-Challenge/305124369333 or www.swimaran.wordpress.com. Donations can be made on www.mycharity.ie/event/aranswimchallenge.