A Dublin man has successfully swam 35km around Galway's Inis Mór in 13 hours raising over €8,500 for Aran Islands RNLI last weekend.
The funds raised will now go towards powering the station’s lifesaving work at sea.
A Guinness World record breaking open water swimmer, Fergal Somerville’s challenge, longer than both the English Channel and North Channel, took place on Saturday last when he had the optimal tide and weather conditions to take on the endeavour.
‘I started the swim near the Straw Island gap and continued through the Sound,’ Fergal explained. ‘At the southern end of Inis Mór, I met the incoming tide to swim to the northwest corner. I then swam across the northern edge of Inis Mór to take the flow of the emptying tide along the Galway facing coast to return to Carrickadda, bringing me up to 35km.’
Speaking following the success of the challenge, Aran Islands RNLI Coxswain Aonghus O Hiarnain said: ‘We are so grateful to Fergal for choosing Aran Islands RNLI as his charity of choice and knowing the thought and preparation he and his team put into this mammoth swimming challenge, considering safety and weather conditions at all times, we are all just delighted that he completed it with such success. It is a great personal achievement for Fergal and a wonderful fundraising success also, the proceeds of which will help us to continue to save lives at sea.’
Donations are still coming in online via this link for those that wish to make a contribution: www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/FergalSomerville3
