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DUNDAG MASTERS |
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OPEN WATER SWIMMING |
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On Sunday 16th of August we held our second swim across Muckross Lake in aid of Muscular Dystrophy Ireland and raised over 1,400 Euro for the worthy charity. We had originally intended that the swim take place on the 26th of July but very high winds of 46km per hour blowing South West along the route of the swim meant we had to reschedule the swim for safety reasons. The intervening weeks allowed us to rethink the swim and we added a 1.13km swim along Dinis shore for those more comfortable with a shorter distance and to give them a feel for the beauty of open water swimming. It was great to see so many smiling faces emerging from the water as achieved personal goals. Many of these swimmers had broken through the 1km barrier in open water for the first time.
We also added a 4km element to the swim for those who enjoy the extra challenge that comes from swimming longer distances in fresh water. Among those who joined the 4km swim were Niamh O’Sullivan whose has built on her successful performances by achieving several personal bests and breaking two national records at the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome recently. Niamh was joined by her father Mike who participated in the 1.13km swim. Niamh also bravely swam without a wetsuit.
We were also delighted to host a member of the Round Ireland Expedition Swim Team 2006. Nuala Moore was part of a team that swam 835 Miles in 35 swim days in 2006. Nuala has been a very good friend to us, organizing a large number of challenging open water swims over the summer and offering us advice on safety and swimming technique.
We were also joined by Imelda Lynch from Cork who swam solo across the English Channel in 2005 in a time of 14 hours. Along with Imelda was Ozzi Schmidt English Channel Relay Swimmer. Ozzi and Imelda have swam the entire length of the Upper Lake and Long Range and are far as we can tell the first to do so. Both love swimming in the fresh clean waters of Muckross Lake and the beautiful scenery that frames the lake.
Other swimmers chose the 2.87 km distance from Dinis to Dundag and joined the 4km swimmers as they passed Dinis Cottage and turned to cross the lake. Many were swimming it for the first time. The wind picked up speed as we left Dinis behind and made it a more challenging swim. Luckily the wind tended to drive us towards the finish at Dundag. We felt very comfortable as we were all under the watchful eye of kayakers and other safety boats. We would like to sincerely thank all the kayakers, Jonathon Harty, Dave Corlett, David Corlett Jnr., Mike Pierce, Ed Lossil, Ger Coffey, James O'Mahony and on rib boats Seán and Denise Coffey and members of of Muckross Rowing Club, National Park Ranger Pascal Dower and his wife , sponsors James Mulcrone of Jam, Ger Griffin of Cadbury Ireland, Paul Murphy, and a special thanks to Margaret Harty for the wonderful soup and food after swim. We would also like to thank Mags and John Joe Harty for all their help in making the swim possible. Without all of you giving of their free time and effort the swim would not have been possible. The success of the swim is because of your competent care.
We would also like to thank all who participated in the swim. The swim was challenging and it was great to see so many smiling faces at the end. The aims of Dundag Masters was to bring people of all abilities with a shared interest in open water swimming together to swim in Muckross Lake and to promote open water swimming in Killarney’s lakes. The success of Sunday’s swim is a good beginning. |
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Local Swim Coaches |
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Marie Wade Swimming Coach caters for all abilities and ages. One to one and group lessons catered for CONTACT MARIE WADE ON 087 2710098 |
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INT. +353 +87 2710098 |
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Irish Independent Article about Marie Wade by Brendan O’Connor |
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Dundag Masters Improver Swimming Classes with Fiona O’Carroll every Tuesday and Thursday Night at the Gleneagle Aquila Pool 7:30—8:30 PM €5.00 per lesson |
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FIONA O’Carroll specializes in Water Safety Education and swimming lessons. Fiona also coaches tri-athletes. Fiona also caters for group and individual lessons. |
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Fiona and Marie before 3 Lakes Challenge Swim 2009 |
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SWIM TRAINING 4 WEEKS COACHED Quality Hotel Killarney A new set of swim classes, for all levels of Tri-athletes, will commence on Monday May 10th at 6.30pm. The class will run for 4 weeks at Club Vitae Swimming pool, The Quality Hotel, Killarney. This course will improve your stroke and help you swim more efficiently and as a result, faster. Those interested in improving their swim times for Triathlons and Sea Swims can expect to see a strong improvement. The course will be run by Diarmuid Herlihy who has held Continuous courses for Tri-athletes in Cork over the last 2 years. In September 2007 Diarmuid broke the Irish record for the fastest swim from Europe to Africa on the straits of Gibraltar. He Swam the 10 miles in 3 hours and 38 minutes. Diarmuid is involved in Coaching swimming on a full time basis in Kerry and Cork.
The key elements of the course will concentrate on 1. Front crawl stroke technique (Body, Legs, Arms, Breathing, Timing and Coordination) Can anyone interested in the Killarney swim course email willowd@gofree.indigo.ie limited places available. |
