At the reception at the Cork City Hall, pioneers and adventurers were as omnipresent as the glasses in the hand.

Stephen Redmond (left), the Oceans Seven pioneer, and Steven Black of Sandycove Island fame, were two of the luminaries chatting and remembering the old days and new memories.

Black recalls the days when he was pioneering Sandycove Island. “People thought we were crazy back then,” he says. Now you are crazy if you DON’T get in.

© 2013 Daily News of Open Water Swimming

“to educate, enthuse, and entertain all those who venture beyond the shoreline“