Remembering Jim’s epic swim ten years on

The late Jim O'Connor reckoned it took an incredible 50,000 plus strokes to solo swim the length of Lough Ree – an epic achievement – that is being fondly remembered on its 10th anniversary.

A feat of physical strength and endurance unmatched since then, Jim's memorable 34km swim from Lanesboro bridge to Athlone bridge took over 13 hours 34 minutes, and will be recalled by many as it seemed the whole of Athlone turned out at slipway near Sean's Bar to welcome him home a decade ago.

Now, his family and friends are planning to announce a charity swim in Jim’s memory over the coming months that they are hoping Athlone and the Midlands will embrace as their own in the years ahead as an annual event.

Speaking to this paper just days after that historic swim on August 18, 2012, the late Jim O'Connor was amazed by the crowd who turned out at the finish line of his swim challenge.

“When I did get to Athlone. I couldn't believe the crowd and the cheering. It was astounding the reception I got, I couldn't believe it.”

While he admitted at the time much of the swim was a blur, Jim recalled that despite the dry weather the conditions were at time very testing in the open waters.

“It got very tough, I had two foot waves going into my face. That was hard on the head,” Jim said at the time with his trademark humour and modesty.

“I started off flying. I did the first kilometre in twelve minutes and the second in 13, but once you get out in the open lake it was basically one kilometre every half hour,” he told this paper at the time.

To mark the ten year anniversary of that epic swim recently, Jim's family have been reflecting on his achievement, the day itself and the warm memories associated with the event.

His wife Joanne recalled that Jim always told her that he learned to swim when he jumped into the newly opened swimming pool, located where the Athlone Community College sits now. He was 11 years old and he scrambled his way down the pool, no fear, only pure joy at the feel and experience of moving through the water.

His teenage years focused more on football with the Northgate Street Cats and some water polo so swimming took a back seat. It was only in his late 30s and early 40s that he returned to the water.

The opening of Athlone Regional Sports centre become a constant in Jim’s life, yes he loved the water, but he cherished too, the camaraderie of the centre team and his fellow fitness enthusiasts.

Never one to shirk a challenge, the idea for the Lough Ree swim can be traced back to a boat trip on Denise's special day, from Coosan to Wineport one summer day back in 2011. Dave Warby, a swim coach in Athlone Regional Sports Centre, planted the seed when he told Jim that no one had ever swam solo the length of Lough Ree – all of 34km. He and a team of eleven or more had done the swim in 2006 as a relay.

With a bottle of Miller in hand, Jim’s replied quick as a flash: “I’ll do that then and in skins what’s more.” Swimming in skins is how swimmers refer to swimming without a wetsuit. It is considered a trademark of a long distance swimmer.

Talks continued well into the night and from there Jim's swim became a thing. He decided that he was going to swim the length of Lough Ree from Lanesboro bridge to Athlone bridge sometime into 2012.

He wanted to do it for charity, and after a chat with his great friend Gráinne O'Neill, Jim decided that South Westmeath Hospice was a very worthy recipient.

Then the hard work really began with a 30-week plan with coach Dave Warby guiding his progress. Jim was ably supported in his training by the team in Athlone Regional Sports Centre, family, friends, and so many others who admired his courage to take on such a massive physical and mental challenge.

In the months leading up to the swim, Jim clocked up an eye-watering 60,000 metres weekly in the pool and then morning and evening swims in the river most days.

His family remembered Jim thriving on the challenge he had set himself and his enjoyment at being exposed to so many new experiences; not least yoga, massage, aromatherapy, all of which he embraced with gusto.

In early 2012, he took part in the Cork Distance Week training event, an intensive open water swimming camp favoured by many hoping to swim the Channel, due to conditions participants face in the rough waters of Sandycove Island.

Coincidentally at the time, Jim's daughter Niamh, who was on a J1 in New York that summer, happened to see a picture of him from the camp in Outside Magazine which focuses on outdoor sports. The talk at home was that he was famous now!

He also took part in the Frances Thornton Memorial Swim in Galway on two occasions crossing the 13km stretch of water from Clare to Galway.

His wife Joanne recalled that as a family they simply rolled with his training regime in an already busy house, so much so, that it became part of the normal daily life and it was like everyone was gearing up for the challenge with him.

Jim usually had the bulk of his daily training done by 8am. His daughter Hannah was a regular kayaker with him on the lake in many of his swim sessions and the boys Jack and Charlie, helped with some of the heavy lifting at work when he was flagging a bit. Somehow, Jim managed to still be on the sideline giving his kids encouragement at the hockey and football training and matches.

His children recollected him getting up in the middle of the night to start the swim. Joanne said they knew it was huge back then, but such was his modesty that they really only realised in later years the real extent of his achievement. They thought it funny how committed he was to do this swim in skins without a wetsuit.

To this day, his family are in awe of all he gave and all he achieved, his strength, his determination, nothing was going to hold him back and he overcame any hurdle one by one.

Joanne's memories of the day focus on his journey hour by hour, trying to keep her nerves at bay and praying that he would come safely happy in what he achieved.

Known for his wit, Jim had warned his great friend Olaf O' Neill not let him out of the water at any stage no matter what he or anyone said! He knew Olaf was the man to make this happen if needed. This was never going to be a case of giving up.

Thoughts of that day bring to mind the crowds there to see him finish, Joanne said, the crowds on boats like the Viking Boat full of people cheering him on, and friends who got into the water to swim the final stages of swim back into his hometown.

“The atmosphere was initially pensive everyone was waiting in anticipation. Then awe and euphoria. It felt like a massive family gathering, all there for a common purpose to see Jim in, all buoyed up by the sense that something amazing was happening, something we could all draw strength from,” his wife remembered of that day ten years ago.

“Coming out of the water, he was mentally and physically exhausted and almost overwhelmed by the welcome. We hugged the hell out of him. He was wrapped in so much community spirit that day and in many days before and after.

“He was so keen to give something back and this was done publicly in his commitment to the fundraising and privately in his many forms of gratitude to family and friends,” said Joanne, recalling that he raised a massive €10,000 from the challenge which was celebrated afterwards with a great night in Sean's Bar.

There are so many cherished memories for his family and friends from this time, knowing that swimming brought great joy to Jim's life and formed friendships that carried over the years.

His Lough Ree swim was a real inspiration to others too, as coach Dave Warby reflected recently, saying that Jim was an average swimmer and like any athlete there is only so much physical preparation that can be done.

For him, it was his sheer mental strength and determination that saw Jim achieving way beyond expectation. Dave maintained the impact of Jim’s swim was a catalyst for change in Athlone Regional Centre too, the thinking was if he can achieve this, what can others do.

Indeed, Dave Warby, Olaf O'Neill and Charlie Naughton reckoned Jim’s epic swim was more than equivalent to an Ironman made up of 4km swim, 180km cycle and marathon run. Distance swimmers understand that fresh water swimming is more challenging than sea water because there is less buoyancy and the swimmer has to work much harder to stay on the surface of the water.

Jim’s untimely passing on November 19, 2018 left his family with a depth of sadness and a loss no words can describe.

“We miss him every day but he lives on in our memory and in the legacy of the person he was to us. We are forever grateful to his friends and swim friends, we know they feel his loss hugely too and of course the loss of Grainne, Olaf’s sister and Jim’s good friend, who was his committed ally through many sporting challenges and there to pull him out of the water at Sean’s at the end of his swim,” said his wife Joanne.

He is referred to as “the big man” and “a legend” at home, a man of great heart who is missed by his family, his parents and siblings, extended family and friends.

To this day, Jim remains the only solo swimmer to swim the length of Lough Ree in skins, which even ten years on is an astonishing feat and one unlikely to be repeated anytime soon.