10-hour swim marathon in Trim raises €7,000

Over 30 swimmers turned out in force last Sunday to take part in a sponsored swim at Aura Trim Leisure Centre to raise money for the Down's Syndrome Ireland Swim Team. The sponsored swim, which took place from 10am to 8pm, saw members of the Down's Syndrome Ireland Swim Team, swimmers from the Meath Masters Swimming Club, swim champion Colm O'Neill and members of Aura staff take to the pool to complete the day-long swim challenge. The swimmers reached their target distance of 110km at 5pm but continued swimming until the final hour. They clocked an overall distance of 147km throughout the course of the day and there was great excitement when they reached the final hour and all participants finished the challenge in the pool together. "The day was a resounding success. We had a great turnout and everybody did their bit to help us reach our target distance. It was great to have some of the Team Ireland members and, of course, our local swim champion and Team Ireland member Eleanor Murray participate in the event. We also owe a special thank you to Irish swim champion, Colm O'Neill, for lending his support to the fundraiser," said Emma Donegan, operations manager at Aura Trim Leisure Centre. "We are delighted with all the support we received. We estimate that we raised between €6,500 and €7,000 on the day. All of the money raised goes directly to Team Ireland and will help them on their way to reaching their goals at the World Championships in Taiwan this October," said Ronan O'Connor, chairman of the Meath Masters Swimming Club. The fundraiser began at 10am and continued with eight sessions right up to 8pm, covering a distance of 147km. The first four swimmers, Ronan, Tara, Roisin and John, took to the pool at 10am and each completed 3,500m by the end of their session. Three swimmers left the pool but John stayed on and five new recruits were all ready to take up the challenge. Nollaig, Aisling, Linda, James and Evelyn all swam well over their allocated distances and, by the end of hour two, the distance was well up on 25,000m. Hour three brought five new swimmers to the event. Martin, Mark, Brendan, Stephen and Neil joined John Downes (who was now on his third hour) in trying to put their mark on the distance and, once again, they surpassed their targets. John decided he needed a small break now and, after 10,000m swam, he deserved it. Sandra, Freda and Ronan swam the fourth hour and, not to be outdone by the swimmers who went before, they well exceeded their proposed distances. Jeff Philips from Kells Swimming Club and Aer Lingus Masters Club joined halfway through the fourth hour and swam 5000m to bring the total swam by 2pm to 59,450m. In the second set of sessions which began at 2pm, Ronan, Tara and Roisin attempted and succeeded with another gruelling hour of swimming. They were joined this time by Allister Gerrard (Tara's brother), Aisling McKeever from Aura. Martin Bourke and Mark Farrell who were now on their second sessions. John Downes decided to return to the pool at 2.30pm and try to put a little more distance onto an already substantial tally. At 3pm, worn-out and weary, they left the pool to a new and invigorated bunch who proceeded to take the pool by storm. Nollaig, Linda and Aisling, all of whom were swimming for the second time, were joined in the water by MMSC co-founder Dave Downes, local Trim swimmer Keith Munnelly and David McCarthy from Aura Navan. Brid Downes entered the fray at this point, too, and demonstrated her level of talent in the pool with a very accomplished swim. Martin Bourke and Mark Farrell decided that two sessions was not enough in one day, so at 4pm, they jumped back in for a third hour. Brendan, Stephen and Neil were once again swimming together and they easily accomplished and exceeded their allocated distances. A swimming coach from Aura's Navan branch, Kristoff, also got into the pool for this hour. Ronan McGrath, his wife Aine, Freda and Sandra took to the pool in the eighth session and took up where they had left off in session four. With 100 per cent commitment and determination, they ploughed through a demanding hour of swimming and exceeded all distances previously completed. June Loughran made her first appearance at 5pm and slotted straight into the pace of the day to keep up with the pre-warmed up swimmers. Aura Trim's main lady Emma Donegan joined the MMSC swimmers and completed a tough 2,000m to prove the staff really can practice what they preach. By this time in the evening, the Dublin-Holyhead target had been reached and exceeded. At 6pm, the first of the half-hour sessions between 6pm and 7pm began and almost all the swimmers were in the water and were still applying the same heart and determination they had started the day with some eight hours previously. Another 21,000m was added to the tally by 7pm. Some of the new participants of the later sessions included Peter Millen and Siobhan Payne, both of whom had undertaken a full triathlon earlier in the day. Also making an appearance was Andrew Linsley who had run a half-marathon on the Saturday and Keith O Muiri. A very high achiever in swimming and MMSC club member, Colm O'Neill, arrived and togged out for a swim at 7pm. Colm has swum the English channel, the North Channel and undertaken the Manhattan Island swim, but to name a few. The Down's Syndrome Ireland Swim Team arrived at 7pm and included National and European champions and boasted a world bronze medallist in the 1,500m event. "We were fully in awe at their achievements and were itching to have a chance to swim with them. The team got in and swam a short warm up before turning up the style and putting the MMSC swimmers through their paces. Butterfly seemed to be on the agenda and, after the tough day we'd had in the pool, it was the last thing we needed but we gave it a go and paled in comparison to the DSI swimmers," said Mr O'Connor. The event finished with a very special mixed relay in which the two squads mixed swimmers and had a very competitive race.