In November 2010, Cork and Sandycove Channel Coach Eilís Burns held one of her irregular brief seminars for prospective Channel solo swimmers for the 2011 Channel season. It wasn’t an open-to-all seminar. Those attending were people who had contacted Eilís asking her to coach them. Eilís is careful in whom she agrees to coach, requiring…
Finbarr started it with the idea of a Sandycove three-lap invitational race at the end of October. With two weeks to go and no mention, Carol Cashell and I raised the idea again and discussion ensued. With less than a week to go the starting lineup was small. The forecast for the weekend showed the…
Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 No precept is more sacred to marathon swimmers than the forbidding of a deliberate touch between swimmer and anything else; boats, people or equipment other than feed supplies. That is the way we disqualify ourselves or how we signify that a swim is over. Until you have been there, until it…
As long-time readers will know, Rob The Bull Bohane, Ciarán Byrne and Finbarr Hedderman are all Sandycove Island Swim Club members, English Channel Soloists and very good friends. Ciarán and Rob are two members of our 2010 Magnificent Seven Channel training squad. All three are very experienced open and cold water swimmers, and are three…
The chief inadequacy amongst my many photographic skills is the portrait. In fact I don’t think of them as portraits, but the more prosaic “pictures of people”. I really struggle with them, with imposing on people, especially when I know that it’ll usually be a waste of their time. So I try to grab snapshots…
Remember 2010 here on loneswimmer.com? When one of the Magnificent Seven Soloed I posted their national flag. I haven’t done it since, not as from disrespect to any of my friends who have swum since, but just I guess because it was our thing. This post has been waiting for two years. I can’t express…
It’s long time since I wrote about Third Spacing of Fluids, the increase of fluids in intercellular spaces that occurs when a person is swimming for a long time, and causes all marathon swimmers to swell and literally bloat. I though it might be best to show the effects more clearly. The first video is…
These are typical swimsuit ads, you see them all over the place. You know the only cold that this pair has ever felt was when he left his cashmere scarf behind that one time in that lovely little boutique in Chelsea after he came back from a weekend in a yacht in St. Tropez and…
When Rob Bohane and Ned Denison planned the inaugural round Beginish Island swim (race) in 2019, I doubt they realised the position it would take as an instant open water classic. Warm water (for us, about 14C), varied course, interesting and challenging location … and a great party. This is the edge of Europe. Past…
From left to right: Channel Swimmer Channel Swimmer Channel Swimmer Channel Swimmer’s Coach Channel Swimmer Channel Swimmer Channel Swimmer Channel Swimmer Not seen in photo, 2 more Channel Swimmers and an Aspirant/Crew. Okay, okay. In the background, la Manche, from Cap Gris Nez, on a frisky Force 3 to 4 day. Left to right, Ciarán…
LoneSwimmer 