Swimming Around Ireland, 2005

The Round Ireland Swim team prepare for their ultimate challenge to swim around the entire coastline.

Former Army Ranger Henry O’Donnell from Carrickfinn in County Donegal came back from an accident to swim the 14km around Tory Island and complete the 38km Donegal Coastal Challenge Swim.

Now he faces his biggest challenge yet, the Round Ireland Swim.

The Round Ireland Swim has been something Henry O’Donnell has wanted to do since 1992. Helping him realise this dream is a team of swimmers, coastguards, sub-aqua clubs air-sea rescue teams, and safety back-up personnel.

The swim aims to raise €100,000 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). If successful, the Round Ireland Swim team will be the first in history to circumnavigate the entire coastline of Ireland in a relay formation. The team will also become the first in the world to circumnavigate a country.

The intrepid swimmers joining Henry O’Donnell are Ian Claxton, Tom Watters, Anne-Marie Ward, Nuala Moore and Ryan Ward.

The team are training off the Donegal coast for the 1,360km swim which is scheduled to take place in July and August 2006. Over these two months the swimmers will encounter severe weather, pollution, sharks, sea mites, jellyfish and busy shipping lanes. Nuala Moore says,

I’ve no doubt there’ll be days where there’ll be no love on the boat, but you know, it’s not about that, it’s about having a goal at the end of the day.

Bunbeg coastguard Timmy Boyle says although the team will have a lot to contend with, he is confident they will succeed,

I have no doubt at all. They’ll be 100% successful.

A ‘Nationwide’ report broadcast on 19 October 2005. The reporter is Mary Fanning.