Brian Keenan On His Father Ted Keenan On WOWSA Live
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Brian Keenan (also known as Robbo) is the son of Irish swimmer Ted Keenan, a International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame inductee.
Brian trained with his famed father and was on his escort boats during his marathon crossings that included the original Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming: English Channel, North Channel, and Bristol Channel. Ted, from Fermanagh, passed away on September 24th 2013.
Brian talked about his father’s career and mindset during today’s WOWSA Live interview with International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame chairperson Ned Denison. They touched upon the following:
* how determined, resilient and stubborn Ted was in the water
* how they were best mates, training together in the gym in the off-season
* how Ted never complained about anything whether it was about the conditions, marine life or getting sick
* how he attempted a France-to-England crossing of the English Channel that ended in a DNF after 19 hours 48 minutes
* how he always drank Nutrament on his crossings
* how he vomited every hour for the first 8 hours during his Bristol Channel crossing (photo of his onshore finish shown above)
* how he always prayed to St. Joseph
* how he was friends with Jack McClelland
* how he achieved the Original Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming:
* the English Channel in 18 hours 11 minutes in August 1972, first swimmer born in Ireland to complete
* the North Channel in 18 hours 27 minutes in 8.8-11°C water in August 1973
* the Bristol Channel in 14 hours 26 minutes in July 1975 from Glen Cove in England to Coney Beach at Porthcawl, Wales, its widest point
* To date Keenan and Kevin Murphy are the only individuals to complete this threesome
Keenan is the namesake for the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association Ted Keenan Ulster Open Water Swimmer of the Year given annually to the swimmer from Ulster who has best represented open water swimming.
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