I’d been dreaming about the Fastnet lighthouse swim for more than year. What the water would feel like jumping in to start the swim at the foot of the rock, what the lighthouse would look like up close. On the morning of the 12th July 2019 the reality of the experience far exceeded the dream.
I’d arrived in West Cork a week before my tide opened to enjoy some sea swimming, get the kit ready and hopefully be able to swim as soon as the weather conditions allowed.
I got a call from Noel to say that the conditions were looking good for a swim on the Friday. My two swim friends Barry and Roisin had kindly agreed to crew for me and we travelled up the night before ready to meet the boat early in the morning.
Noel, Barry, Roisin and I met Kieran at his boat Radiance in Baltimore harbour early Friday morning and motored out to the lighthouse. It was a calm sunny morning with just a few clouds in the sky. Along the route out past Sherkin and Cape Clear islands we spotted a seal and some dolphins. At first the lighthouse was barely visible but increasingly came into focus as we approached. Close up the lighthouse looked like a massive cathedral rising from the ocean. Kieran took us on a circuit around the lighthouse so we could see it fully; it was such a unique place to be.
A final few preparations and I was ready to jump off the back of the boat into the water. A couple strokes and I was at the rock below the lighthouse. I couldn’t help smiling that I was actually here and getting the opportunity to swim in such a special place. At touch of the rock and we were off.
I soon settled into my swim position on the starboard side of Radiance. I felt relaxed knowing that Kieran, Noel, Barry and Roisin were keeping an eye on me and piloting us back towards Cape Clear. My job was to just keep my head down and swim. The first few hours passed quickly with feeds delivered at timed intervals from either Barry or Roisin. The waves were gentle rollers pushing me from behind and the water was beautifully clear. At one feed I was asked if I’d seen a dolphin, I hadn’t. What they didn’t tell me was that a minke whale had been swimming about 5metres away from me, wow. I wish I’d seen the whale and shared a moment of watery connection.
I could see the land mass of Cape Clear come into my vision on the right. A few years before a friend had shared with me a mind game he played in his head on long solo bikes rides – working through the letters of the alphabet and naming as many countries as possible with each letter before moving along. I’d played this game in my head many times on longer swims, and annoyingly always seem to get stuck on the same letter, but it does pass several hours quickly. As we approached the Gascanane Sound – the gap between Cape Clear and Sherkin – the winds which had been predicted to pick up a bit started to create a bit more chop and slap from the right. The wind also had the effect of blowing the exhaust fumes straight into my breathing line. A quick chat with Kieran on the next feed and I changed swim position to the stern to avoid the fumes, it was time to keep the head down and swim through the chop.
A few feeds later and I thought I recognized the white beacon on the headland above Baltimore, but checked with Barry and Roisin to be sure. It was, so I was told to ‘swim pretty’ for a bit in order to get a decent photo with the beacon in the background! I remembered standing on the headland by the beacon the previous summer and looking out over the stretch of water I was now swimming. I knew we would soon be making the turn to head in past the marina and then eventually the harbor slipway. We’d discussed before leaving Baltimore in the morning that Roisin would join me on the final stage of the swim through some of the boats and along a line of buoys to the slipway. It was brilliant swimming along and watching Roisin prepare to jump in for the swim. The good weather meant that there was a lot of boat traffic so Kieran decided to keep a course close to both of us for protection and radioed head to the harbor master of our impending arrival. Then for an even better ending Barry also jumped in to swim the last few hundred meters and the great welcome party of our friend Anne-Marie at the top of the slipway. What a brilliant way to finish the swim, with the friends who’d given such great support – perfect. We all turned and waved and saluted Kieran and Noel on the boat who were crucial in making the swim a success. A massive thank-you to all of you, it’s a day I will always treasure.
