One day separated John-Charles Curley and Andrew Packer in becoming the first two people to complete the Irish Grand Slam of Open Water Swimming, a four-part unassisted solo marathon swimming series.
The Irish Grand Slam consists of the following swims:
- 10.5 km Galway Bay (Irish: Loch Lurgan or Cuan na Gaillimhe) on the west coast of Ireland
- 16 – 21 km Fastnet Rock Swim, the southerly point of Ireland
- 35 km North Channel between Donaghadee, Northern Ireland and Portpatrick Scotland
- 20.2 km Dál Riata Channel between Mull of Kintyre in Scotland and Torr Head in Northern Ireland
Curley completed the first Irish Grand Slam on July 13th at the age of 42 [shown above on left with coach-pilot Ger Kennedy]:
- June 2022: Galway Bay from Aughinish Island Co. Clare to Salthill Co Galway in 3 hours 23 minutes
- June 2024: Fastnet Rock Swim from the Fastnet Lighthouse to Baltimore in 6 hours 55 minutes
- September 2023: North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 13 hours 8 minutes
- July 13th 2024: Dál Riata Channel between Mull of Kintyre and Torr Head in Northern Ireland in 10 hours 45 minutes
Packer completed the second Irish Grand Slam on July 14th at the age of 29 [shown above on right in San Francisco Bay]:
- May 2022: Fastnet Rock swim from Fastnet to Baltimore in 5 hours 27 minutes
- June 2024: Galway Bay in 2 hours 35 minutes
- June 2024: North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland in 11 hours 51 minutes
- July 14th 2024: 20.2 km Dál Riata Channel from Scotland to Northern Ireland in 7 hours 26 minutes
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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