Courtesy of Ger Kennedy, Dalkey Island, Ireland.

Nine years after Captain Matthew Webb crossed the English Channel for the first time in human history in 1875, the first long distance sea swim was recorded in Ireland in 1884*, just south of Dublin.

The coastal route was from Dalkey Island to the Bray Head Hotel.

Ger Kennedy repeated that historic swim in 2015 and it was recently completed by Garreth McDermott and Sean Hall in 15°C water as a channel training swim [both shown on finish on left]. McDermott will attempt a North Channel crossing from Northern Ireland to Scotland next month.

“The sea state was nice and the jellies low,” said Kennedy who escorted the pair. “Back in 1994, the events sponsors were the railway company and the newspaper, the Freemans Journal and then the Irish Times. The prizes were generally a cup and cash prizes ranging from 7 to 10 shillings.”

Photo of Dalkey Island courtesy of Dalkey Photos.

* On July 22nd 1884, Thos Stephenson Francis Battersby swam 8.85 km in 2 hours 1 minute from Bray Head to Dalkey Island.

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