Swimmers making a splash for local boy

DOORUS resident Mark Dwyer, along with 10 experienced swimmers, will take to the sea later this month to raise money for facilities for local boy Conor Keane.

Mark will swim 2.4km from Oileán Eide to Lynch’s Pier, Doorus to raise money for the Conor Keane Trust on Saturday, September 28.

The swim takes place at 10am and Mark believes it can be done in 40 minutes.

“It will be a high tide but the rate of knots in the deepest part will be slack. We have rescue set up with RibWest, a local company that run trips to the Aran Islands and the GOYA gang here will also provide kayak support. I am hoping that we will have 10 to 12 swimmers on the day but I don’t really want any more than that because I want to have sufficient support and safety really is paramount,” he said.

Weather conditions will not deter Mark and his fellow participants and he is hoping it won’t deter supporters either.

“Hopefully, people will come out and support us but it is weather dependent. If it is too rough, we won’t swim from the island but will do an alternative swim, maybe up to Traught beach and back, unless it is really horrendous and therefore unsafe to do it. Safety will obviously be a priority,” he outlined.

Mark is a former competitive swimmer and has overcome some adversity to be ready for this swim.

“I used to swim competitively years ago and I ended up just under two years ago having open heart surgery. From a physical and psychological point of view, I wanted to get back in shape. I went back to swimming and have been taking part in some competitions. I recently won the Thomond Bridge swim. But Oileán Eide is at the back of my house. It is something I have looked at and said this is something I want to do. I decided that now is the time and organised a few swimmers from the area and around Galway and decided we might as well do it for charity. Conor is a neighbour of mine so that is how it came about,” he explained.

“I train in Oranmore and in the sea at the back of the house. We swim from Lynch’s Pier to Traught beach and back. That is about a 3km swim so we try to do that twice a week too so that will prepare us for the 2.4km at the end of the month,” he said.

Mark is hoping to raise money for the Conor Keane Trust and has placed sponsorship cards and buckets in local businesses around Kinvara.