Finbarr Hedderman completes his 3,000th lifetime lap of Sandycove Island in County Cork, Ireland earlier this month.
1,000 laps of the island – a rough water 1.6 km loop – qualifies swimmers for the Millennium Club and a special commemorative swim cap.
Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, and Robert Bohane, both three-time Millennium Club Sandycove Island swimmers themselves, were on hand to issued Hedderman his swim cap.
Denison said of a swim around Sandycove Island, “No two laps are the same – due to 4 meters of tide that exposes rocks that can result in scrapes and blood, wave swells, crashing surf, changing water and air temperatures, visibility (or not) in the water, wind, light (sun and moon or none or not so much), phosphorescence, weeds, jellyfish, seals, fish, rain, the gaps, clumps of sea foam, occasional sweet water, sleet, snow, fog, weeds, birds (diving, floating, soaring or nesting), crabs looking longing at several months of food, and the herd of feral goats.“
Hedderman, an honoree in the Ireland Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, has completed crossings of the English Channel (13 hours 21 minutes in 2008), North Channel (12 hour 24 minute in 2014), and Catalina Channel (15 hours 5 minutes in 2023) as well as swims as far flung as Arizona, USA and Cape Town, South Africa.
In Kinsale, the swimmers track their laps. The 2024 current leader board shows Bohane in second with 233 laps, Denison in 7th with 214 laps, and Finbarr in 12th with 151 laps. They are big contributors as mentors, organizers, crew, and in-water competitors which makes Sandycove Island a leading marathon swimming location on the global map.
Hedderman’s 3,000th lap took place at 6:30 am on the day of the highest tide of the year with conditions on the seaward side of the island described as on the higher end of lumpy.
Back in 2020, Denison ventured to predict, “I am not entertaining any targets beyond 5,000 lifetime laps.“
But with the continued enthusiasm of the Sandycove Island swimmers, it is a good bet that their 5,000th lap will be achieved in the near future.
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“
A World Open Water Swimming Federation project.