Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.
As the sun rose just after 5 am, five swimmers took off in the 13ºC (55ºF) waters of the Irish Sea (Muir Éireann) to complete the Port Oriel Swim.
Jacqueline Galway reports, “This was a swim qualifier for Colleen Mallon and Keith Garry as they take on the North Channel and English Channel respectively.
Donna Cooke was part of the swim team, a local athlete and swim coach. Donna is often complemented on her graceful swim style. In November, she opened her Camlough Lake Water Festival Step out of the Ordinary – Blue Envelope Challenge and accepted her destiny as Port Oriel.
A newly navigated course for 2014, the swim started at Gyles Quay, Co.Louth and followed a line to Port Oriel at Clougherhead Co.Louth, a
distance of some 19.5 km.”
Milo McCourt and 2013 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year Pádraig Mallon also made the crossing.
Copyright © 2014 by World Open Water Swimming Association