Pieta charity swim a huge success
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Robbie Powell, first home, with Charlie O’Connor, Joanne O’Connor, Hannah O’Connor and Niamh O’Connor at the Jim O’Connor Memorial Castle to Castle swim last Saturday. Photos Paul Molloy.Image 2 of 5
Donna Blair, Mary O’Connor, Joanne O’Connor, Carla Flynn and Lauryn Blair at the Jim O’Connor Memorial Castle to Castle swim last Saturday.Image 3 of 5
Tracy Powell, Avril Freeburne and Michelle Freeburne at the Jim O’Connor Memorial Castle to Castle swim last Saturday.Image 4 of 5
Ethan Keogh with his grandparents Teresa Keogh and Christie Keogh at the Jim O’Connor Memorial Castle to Castle swim last Saturday.Image 5 of 5
Aoife Cooney, first lady home, with Ellie Cooney, Katie Cooney and Amy Cooney at the Jim O’Connor Memorial Castle to Castle swim last Saturday.A Castle to Castle charity swim event to honour the memory of the late Jim O'Connor has already raised almost €60,000 for national suicide prevention charity Pieta.
The event, which took place on Saturday last, attracted a field of 85 swimmers, 61 of whom took part in the relay and 24 solo swimmers. Conditions on the day were described by organisers as “very challenging” with a heavy swell in the earlier stages, but all swimmers completed the 13.5km distance from Rindoon Castle to Athlone Castle within a five and a half hour timeframe – 30 minutes ahead of the expected time of six hours.
Robbie Powell covered the distance in three hours and 17 minutes while the first female home was Aoife Cooney in four hours.
The atmosphere on the day was both electric and emotional andthe late Jim O'Connor's wife, Joanne, and his children, Niamh, Hannah, Jack and Charlie (Jack tuned in via social media from New York), along with his Dad and extended family were in awe of the support for the charity event.
Joanne said Saturday was “an amazing culmination of many months of hard work by so many” and added that everyone turned out to make the day special “for the swimmers, for Pieta and for us in Jim's memory.”
She also outlined how it her family's wish that the swim becomes an annual event for Athlone and the Midlands “and most importantly, for those in need of Pieta's support.”
The fundraiser for Pieta started out with a target of €25,000 and Joanne O'Connor thanked all those who have contributed so generously to supporting the work of Pieta in helping people who are in suicidal distress and providing support to the families of those bereaved by suicide.
The late Jim O'Connor still remains the only person to swim the length of Lough Ree, which he completed in 2012. His untimely passing in 2018 was the catalyst for his family and friends to want to do something in his memory, and after much discussion they set about organising the Castle to Castle swim in aid of Pieta.