Last month, two records were set by husband and wife Keith and Oonagh Garry, from Blackrock, Ireland.
Keith Garry started off the record setting month on August 14th by competing in an ultra marathon swim. His swim involved him swimming across what’s known as the North Channel from Ireland to Scotland. In order for Keith’s swim to go down in the record books, he had to beat Miko Klerx’s time of 10 hours 32 minutes. He completed the 21 mile swim in 9 hours and 57 minutes. The North Channel swim is about the same distance as that of the English Channel, however, The North Channel’s approximately 54 degree water and natural obstacles add to the level of difficulty.
Garry’s swim was recognized by the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association, pending ratification. Garry has a long history of the group that indicates that ratification of the record is likely.
The open water swimming community has had growing interest in The North Channel, due to the fact that it is listed as the most difficult swim in the Oceans 7. Oceans 7 is a famed list of the 7 most challenging swims across the world, equivalent to The Seven Summits of mountain climbing. Oceans 7 lists The North Channel’s reasons for difficulty as: heavy seas, cold water, thunderstorms, strong currents and difficulty predicting the weather.
Keith joins the 8 others who have successfully completed The North Channel swim. He is delighted to have “ticked it off” his list as he sets out to complete all of the Oceans 7.
Just 2 weeks after Keith’s swim, his wife set out to conquer a new North Channel record of her own. Oonagh and her teammates from the Donegal Diamonds Belfast Waterpolo team split up into 2 relay teams to race the North Channel. Oonagh’s relay team, Channel Swimming Crazies, began their trek at 4 a.m. on August 25th.
Although the teams were blessed with good weather, some swimmers encountered the deadly Lions Mane Jellyfish. Regardless of the creatures they encountered, Oonahg’s team was still able to set a new record of 9 hours 55 minutes. Their time beat the previous record of an American team by 23 minutes.
Similar to Garry’s solo swim, the record is awaiting formal ratification, but was recognized by the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association in a Facebook post.
The month of August was clearly a good month for Irish open water swimming and the Garry family. With 2 new records set, and Keith going after all Oceans 7 swims, more records are sure to fall.