Champion of Champions

Yesterday the first Irish "Champion of Champions" was held in Sandycove. The plan was to swim 5 laps at 9am, 3 laps at 2pm and 1 lap at 5pm. A few people stuck to the plan, but because of the strong easterly gales I decided to just do 3 laps at 9am and 2 laps at 2pm.

Even with the bad weather it was a very enjoyable day, with the added bonus of Munster winning the Heineken Cup. There were lots of great swimmers at the event, including Kevin Murphy, the King of the Channel. Hopefully next time the weather will be better and I will be able to complete the challenge.

Close encounters...

It was an unusual swim in the river last night. It was quite dark but it was very mild and dead calm. I was the only one in the water and my dad was kayaking. About 1200m upstream, I lifted my head to see where I was going. I could see something breaking the surface and swimming along infront of me. I presumed it was a small fish, as usual. A few strokes later, I was greeted by a huge splash on my left hand side. I stopped to take off my googles and watched a curious otter swim away from me. This was certainly a new experience. I had only ever seen otters from a distance and in the early mornings. I am looking forward to more close encounters with our furry friend.

River temperatures

Since the weather has started to really improve, conditions for river swimming are perfect. Many hours of sunshine on the surface of the water has brought temperatures way up into the mid-teens. So far we have done two swims of over an hour and 5km are swims on the charts for the next couple of weeks. The inaugural Irish "Champion of Champions" in Sandycove is less than three weeks away. Hopefully this weather will keep up and we will be well prepared, if I can find a kayaker that is.