I’ve obviously been too busy to write much for the last few day, so I thought I’d let you know that Steve Munatones interviewed me a few weeks ago for Open Water Wednesday spot on the Daily News of Open Water Swimming which is available to his subscribers, principally on my favourite subject…cold water. I rambled on, as will come as no surprise to you by now.

Steve’s intro is below. I’m not in the habit of collecting clips about myself and I can categorically say I had nothing to do with Steve saying these things but THANKS STEVE (who is a regular reader and commenter here) though I’m a bit embarrassed!

I picked up my first Far East subscriber last week (that I’m aware of) so hello to Thailand, where about 20 years ago, before I was a real swimmer, I swam on the beach at Pattaya and still remember the sunset.

Also, it seems like the name Loneswimmer, that I chose all that time ago, has finally stuck, which I’m pretty happy about. It still works best for me. I love to swim with my friends, particularly at Clonea, the Guillamenes and Sandycove, amongst other locations,  aand though we have an increasing number of OW swimmers along the Waterford coast, I still regularly feel the need to break Rule Number One.

Steve, I like the new site layout, by the way.

I think most of us OW swimmers visit the Daily News. “Have you seen on Daily News…” is a regular conversation starter particularly over the summer. And the  are great tidbits to be gleaned. The recent Coke & potato crisps as a possible remedy for a sick stomach for example (I hate Cola, but nevertheless), and I’ve linked, a long time ago, Steve’s great article on the renaissance in Open Water swimming, one of my favourites.

“Donal Buckley of Ireland is the LoneSwimmer.  But his exploits are followed around the world.  His words, his voice, his perspective give swimmers around the world reason to pull for him, although most have never met him.  He inspires, he educates and he makes people smile and think with his profound prose.  He takes difficult topics and makes them simple.  He takes unknown issues and makes them engaging.  He tackles the concept of marathon swimming with zest and vigor and a uniquely educational and entertaining point-of-view. Donal simply makes the global open water swimming world a better place.  He is an English Channel solo swimmer and relay member who enjoys the simple joys and difficult challenges of cold-water marathon swims.  His thoughts, his opinions, his ideas are all interesting, engaging, spot on and thoughtful. His topics range from physical to psychological, from hypothermia to injuries, from training to its impact on daily life.  He is introspective, intellectual, interesting and intriguing from his lone outpost in the southeast of Ireland.”