Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim Inducted In Hall of Fame – Marathon Swimming Ireland
Courtesy of Ned Denison, Hall of Fame – Marathon Swimming Ireland.
The Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim was among a number of Irish honorees voted into the Hall of Fame – Marathon Swimming Ireland in its Class of 2020.
The event joined Conor Gunn, Owen O’Keefe, Colm O’Neill, Fergal Somerville, and Imelda Lynch in the Hall of Fame – Marathon Swimming Ireland.
The newest members joined the Class of 2019 (Anne-Marie Ward, Grainne Gunn, Ion Lazarenco Tiron, Ned Denison, Stephen Millar, Sandycove Island Swimmers) and Class of 2018 (Chris Bryan, Lisa Cummins, Kieran Fitzgerald, Jack McClelland, Deirdre Ward, Eilís Burns, Martin Cullen, Brian Meharg, and Quinton Nelson).
The Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim a 13 km (8.12 mile) charity event from Auginish in Co. Clare to Blackrock Diving Tower in Salthill to the benefit of Cancer Care West in Ireland. It is the most popular marathon sea swim in Ireland with more than 400 solo swims completed. The swim has raised more than €300,000 to date.
The event was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide an opportunity for interested swimmers to swim Galway Bay and in the process raise as much money as possible through fundraising efforts for Cancer Care West – the West of Ireland cancer patient and family care organization. In 2008, the swim was renamed in memory of Frances Thornton who passed away from cancer after a long battle with the disease. Her son, Kevin Thornton, has been instrumental in reigniting the swim as an annual event.
As a result of its success, he charity has launched several new services to the people of Galway and the rest of Connacht.
For more information, visit the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association website here.
The formal induction ceremony to honor the Frances Thornton Memorial Galway Bay Swim will be held on February 29th 2020 in Kinsale, Co. Cork in conjunction with the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association Awards (register here).
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