Gearing up for second Lough Ree swim in memory of Athlone's Jim O'Connor

The second annual 13.5 kilometre Castle to Castle charity swim in honour of the late Jim O'Connor is set to take place on Saturday, August 24.

Participants will begin at Rindoon Castle in Lough Ree before swimming in the open water to Athlone Castle.

On Friday, we caught up with organiser David Warby, and one of the participating swimmers, Basil Gilfillan, ahead of this fundraising event in aid of Pieta House.

This swim is organised by Athlone Regional Sports Centre along with the family and friends of the late Jim O'Connor. It began last year as a way to honour the memory of the Athlone man, who passed away in 2018. To this day, Jim remains the only person to complete a solo swim of Lough Ree in 'skins' (without a wetsuit).

David Warby, who is on the organising committee of the charity event, explained that planning for the inaugural event last summer began in early 2023.

“When Jim initially swam the full length of Lough Ree, he started from the bridge in Lanesborough and went to the bridge in Athlone. So, when I was looking for an event to commemorate him, I just knew that Rindoon Castle was around halfway down the Shannon, so it was an ideal starting point.

“It had a good ring to it, castle to castle. I came up with the idea, put it out to a few of my friends, and friends of Jim's and Joanne, Jim's wife. She was on board, and it went from there.

“It started in the January of last year, so there was eight months of planning [before the inaugural event]. It's a big, big undertaking.

“We could not do this event without help from the likes of Athlone Sub Aqua Club, Waterways Ireland, Order of Malta, Lough Ree Yacht Club, Athlone Boat Club, Viking Tours, Baysports, and the Inny kayakers. They have all come on board to help us out and to make this a safe event.”

David works at the Regional Sports Centre. He is overseeing the adult group training, and is coaching many of the swimmers for this year's event: “We lay out a programme for those that entered in the event. We give it to them. And I put them through their paces!

“It's predominantly local people that are involved in the relays. We have some solo swimmers from Dublin and other parts of the country. We would love to grow this event. It has great potential, and we'd love to get more people, nationwide, involved.

“Open water swimming has boomed in the last few years in Ireland. In Athlone we're really so lucky here with the facilities that we have out there in the lake, in the Shannon. I had a group out there yesterday morning and we went to a part of the lake that they'd never seen before and they kept looking at the beautiful scenery. That's all part of it, and being part of a group and training.”

One of the swimmers taking part in the event this year is Basil Gilfillan, who works at the Regional Sports Centre as well. Basil, who also participated last year, will be one of just 18 swimmers to do this event solo.

“We have close on 80 swimmers,” David explained. “And 18 solo swimmers who are doing the whole event, and then the rest are made up in relays.

“Now, from a solo point of view, like the event that Basil had done last year, it is the equivalent of a marathon in swimming. Basil was swimming last year for about just over the four hours-” Basil promptly interjected with “under!”

“Just under the four hours!” David laughed. “And the slowest swimmer was swimming five and a half hours. So it's not a challenge you take on lightly. It takes a fair bit of training.

“We have put a programme in place here, we bring groups out training and out to the lake as well on a Thursday morning. I'll put them through their paces.”

Basil said that it was an easy decision to get involved in this charity swim: “I had just seen it as a really good challenge to kind of take up and I felt like it was definitely a goal I'd like to test myself with, something I could just try and see if I could do, because I hadn't done that distance before.

“Last year was unbelievable. Sometimes it was a little bit rough but I completely enjoyed it. Everything, from just being out in the open water, just the peacefulness of it, even though it was hard, it was really enjoyable. Every summer once the lake opens I'm just religiously in the lake. It's definitely one of my favourite places to be.”

So, does he hope to better his time from last year? “I've had a couple of knockbacks with training this year,” Basil revealed. “A couple of ear infections, and then I had Covid. It definitely interfered with my training, but I have been on top of it and putting in the distance that I needed to get up to.

“What am I hoping to get out of it? It's probably more about the charity than the swimming, more about the awareness.”

Last year the group raised over €63,000 for Pieta House, a suicide prevention society.

David explained that “Pieta will say that it takes about €1,000 to help somebody in counselling, to actually put somebody through counselling.

“So last year we raised €63,000. We potentially helped 63 lives. 63 lives we've made a difference to, and we want to do the same again this year, get up to that amount.”

Donations are open until the end of September, and Basil and David are hoping that the money raised, and the turnout on the day, will be even better than last year.

“Last year we had a huge turnout,” David said. “We had a marquee there at the finish, there was tea, coffee, and loads of people around. We'd love to see the same again, if not more people out there this year. And it is a chance for you to donate there on the day.

“The first swimmer is scheduled to come in around one o'clock, so between one and three is about the finish time. We'd love to see people down there supporting them, because it is a huge undertaking.

“And if there's anybody out there thinking about taking up swimming, it can be done. You can do it as part of a relay next year. There are people here doing it as part of a relay thinking 'I can do this solo'. It can be done, we have the facilities here, we have the expertise. We'll get you there.”

The atmosphere at the finish line promises to be electric, and Basil recalled the feelings of finishing the long swim last year: “Probably the best part of my swim was getting out and seeing my son, standing there, cheering me on at the finish line.

“I actually thought I was going to be absolutely done, but I think the atmosphere when you get there made me not think of the pain that was starting to kick in!

“And I think that the sport and the charity that the money is being raised for go hand-in-hand, because swimming is probably one of the best things for your head.

“We're trying to raise money in one of the healthiest ways for your mind, by swimming for a charity that actually is there for people if you're having trouble or you're in a dark place,” Basil said.

David interjects this time, saying to Basil that “you said to me recently, 'Swimming in open water is my happy place.' There you have it.”