A Crowning Achievement: Dave Berry Goes Three For Three

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For many, completing a Triple Crown in the sport of open water swimming is the pinnacle of success.

But Irish swimmer Dave Berry in his only second season as an open water swimmer has achieved three Triple Crowns:

The 48-year-old is the first man to complete such a trifecta (Dina Levačić was the first person). His achievement is all the more impressive considering that he only took up marathon swimming in 2022.

The Dublin dad of two completed the Irish Triple Crown in September:

20 km course between Fastnet Rock and the Baltimore Pier in Cork
21 km two-way Galway Bay Swim between Aughinish in Co. Clare and Blackrock Diving Tower in Salthill
35 km North Channel between Donaghadee in Northern Ireland and Portpatrick in Scotland, one of the toughest Oceans Seven channels

His crossing of the North Channel enabled Berry to also complete The Original Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming:

33.5 km English Channel
29 km Bristol Channel
35 km North Channel

These UK-based crossings are iconic in the world of open water swimming and are considered a significant achievement especially since Berry did all three in an 11-month time frame.

Berry’s third crown, The Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming was completed this October:

45.9 km 20 Bridges around Manhattan Island in New York
32.3 km Catalina Channel in Southern California
33.5 km English Channel between England and France

In his brief career, Berry has completed 18 marathon swims to date.

He explains, “The actual distance swum is always longer than the official point-to-point measurement. For example, the English Channel is 33.5 km in a straight direct line, but I swam 42 km because of tides, pushing me through the Channel. The Bristol Channel is 29 km in distance, but I swam 38 km in total. It is all easier said than done, especially when the cold bites and fatigue sets in. You have to battle against the tided not knowing how long the last few kilometres is going to take.

It wasn’t intentional. I just started swimming long distance last year and one swim led into the next. This year, I did plan my swims, but in 2022, I had no clue as to what my body could take so everything was a bit random.

I didn’t do any sports or exercise for 20 odd years after I left school. When I turned 40, I felt I should get fit before the dad’s belly got a hold of me. I had some swim lessons as a kid when he was ten, but when they were held twice a week, my mom felt that I could swim and that was that.

When I turned 40, I did basic gym stuff and swam a few lengths of the pool for a few years – until COVID hit. Then, sea dipping became sea swimming. I really got into it. In 2021, I set myself a challenge of swimming a million meters in Irish open waters (or an equivalent of 19 km swum per week). This meant that I did not swim in pools, or use any wetsuits. I didn’t miss a day.”

His 404 days of continuous sea swimming ended in 2021 by a bout of COVID.

Berry’s marathon swimming introduction came in January 2022 after swimming the North Channel (from Northern Ireland to Scotland) as a relay team member. It was an achievement to have swam across this channel in January in 8°C (46°F) waters, but he felt he was not fully tested. “It was a good experience. We raised over 50,000 for charity, but I needed a solo goal. So I went online and made a few calls and secured a few swims. Some big swims.“

In 2022, his first long-distance swim was from Fastnet Lighthouse to Baltimore in Co. Cork which is part of the Irish Triple Crown. “I had never swam over 10 km in the sea before this swim. Fastnet was 20 km and the water was a chilly 11°C (52°F), but I did it in under 7 hours. I think looking back, I wasted more energy on nervousness than I did during that swim.

Later that month, I had a family holiday booked in the USA to visit family and managed to squeeze in the Catalina Channel. It’s a 32.3 km swim from Catalina Island to Los Angeles. It took me just over 12 hours. The rest of that year, I just swam depending on how I felt. I did a 21 km two-way Galway Bay swim and three different Kish Lighthouse swims in Dublin that summer: a 20 km swim to Greystones, a 15 km swim to Seapoint, and a 20 km swim to Lambay Island.”

To finish the 2022 season, Berry swam across the English Channel from England to France. “It’s funny it is the English Channel swim that most people are impressed about. It was a challenge as it took 12 hours 35 minutes, but I finished it and asked myself, ‘Is that it? Looking back it was the end of the season and my fitness had peaked.’

This winter I planned my swims, three big ones: North Channel, Bristol Channel, and (around) Manhattan. I had a list of Irish swims too. I trained hard in the winter. I stayed out of the sea from November to March, and worked on speed in the pool. I also did some big weeks. One week, I did 8 km in one set per day rounding off the week at 50 km in the pool. It was mind-numbingly boring, but that’s training.

The start of the season went well, with a few local swims and a lovely Dingle Bay swim. One day after heavy rains, I swam from Kish Lighthouse into Bray Harbour. As soon as I got to the harbour, I knew something was wrong. The water was horrible and it stank.

Later that month, I was swimming the North Channel, but in the build-up, I ignored my sore throat and stomach issues. I got 34 km into the crossing before my body shut down. I had breathing issues and water was getting into my lungs. I was sick for weeks after; on random days, I was wrecked. I had no energy and I was watching my summer go by with no swims.

After numerous doctor visits, it came back that I had salmonella poisoning. I was actually delighted as now I could address it and move on.”

In August 2023 when Berry was on holiday, he managed to fit in a Strait of Gibraltar crossing from Tarife, Spain to Morocco. In doing so, he holds the joint Irish record for this swim of 3 hours 12 minutes for the 14.4 km distance. A week later, he swam the 29 km of the Bristol Channel in 10 hours. Then after that, he completed the North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 12 hours 34 minutes. He had completed three channel swims in three weeks.

“The North Channel has the label of being the hardest swim of the Oceans Seven. As I had failed earlier that summer on this swim, the extra pressure of overthinking things was an extra obstacle to get over. Infinity Channel Swimming was brilliant, positive messages, and extremely professional. They remarked ‘a failure is only a failure if you walk away from it’. Infinity understood my disappointment on the first attempt and gave me a second slot. Their mindset on the day was similar to mine. Don’t overthink it, keep the pace down for the first two or three hours, and see how the body responds.

I loved that swim, the challenge of cold-ish water, the distance, and wondering if my body would deliver. My plan was to take it easy for the first three hours knowing the cold would make it slightly uncomfortable. Then, speed up slowly after that and have some in the tank for the difficult tidal parts. At the start, there were three other swimmers. I found it hard not to compete and race off. I kept my stroke rate at 51 (normally around 60), embraced the water, and tried to ignore the other boats and swimmers. Then, the fog came down and I lost sight of them all and zoned out. Halfway through the swim, I had a small pod of dolphins buzz me. Three of them swam beneath me a few times; that was a fun distraction. The other distraction was the Rugby World Cup game between Ireland and Romania. Where my crew looked on from inside the boat.

After the last North Channel swim attempt, I knew I could park the jellyfish pain. I did this again until the last 5 km where I kept getting hit by lion’s manes one after another. Luckily, I only got one bad one in the face and one really bad one squashed under my armpit. My feet were on fire too. The rest were just annoying stings. After 12 hours 30 minutes, I swam into Portpatrick Harbour in Scotland. At the end of the swim, I felt I had loads left in the tank. I wasn’t cold and felt good. To me, that is the sign of a stress- free swim, but it was a rough night of twitches with the jellyfish stings.”

Berry has no coach and no nutritionist. He just swims and picks up bits along the way.

After the North Channel Berry was delighted he was back. “I knew I wasn’t burnt out. I was sick and got over it. Completing three channel swims in three weeks was a great feeling. I had got most of my list done, but Irish weather wasn’t playing ball for my Irish swims.”

In the build-up to his Manhattan Island circumnavigation swim, Berry swam 25 km from Kish Lighthouse to Rush. The Kish Lighthouse is 30 meters high, standing 10 km off the Dublin coast. Berry has swam six different routes from here and piloted another ten for other swimmers. “Kish Lighthouse is on my doorstep. If anyone swims in Dublin, you can see it and it just calls out to me. Especially in winter when I look out to sea, it just makes me long for the summer.”

The week before New York City, Berry also swam the length of the Cliffs of Moher in Co.Clare. “This was easily the most entertaining swim that I had ever done to this point, swimming at the foot of Europe’s highest cliffs, spotting people 700 foot above you was magical. I definitely kept the best two visual swims to the end of the season.”

A week later, Dave completed the 20 Bridges Swim in New York, handing him his third Triple Crown achievement. “I loved the Manhattan swim. I was lucky to have had beautiful conditions and with water temperatures around 17°C (63°F), I was never cold. The skyline of Manhattan was just fantastic, amazing to look up and watch the skyscrapers pass by. The team at New York Open Water who run the Manhattan swim were brilliant. They just made it a fun day to round off a really enjoyable year of swimming.”

Berry is nominated for Male Swimmer of the Year in the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association Awards which take place on November 18th in Ireland.