Chris Judge

My Fastnet 6.8.22 (5 hours 28 mins) After a shaky summer of training due to taking Covid twice and having a shoulder injury which I ended up getting injected I wasn’t really looking forward to my Fastnet swim. I’m really nervous swimmer and this was no different. I had done the North Channel in 2017 and suffered really bad with jellyfish stings and 5 years later that experience hadn’t left me. Something I need to learn to let go. However, it turned out that my Fastnet experience is something I will cherish forever. 1 because of the company 2 because of the conditions and 3 how I fell in love with the place and people of West Cork. After getting the call on a Thursday that the swim will happen on a Saturday off me, and my crew Jordan Leckey went from Co Armagh to Leap Co Cork on our magical mystery tour. We arrived in Leap and to us it was a strange feeling, it felt like we had stepped back in time 50 years. (Who doesn’t want to do that?) We had a lovely dinner with Nathan and Noel in Connollys we were joined by my good friend Grace McGloghlin and her husband John, Grace was swimming same day as me and staying in same location. The lads made a point of making myself and Grace very jealous as they sipped on pints and Myself and Grace nervously sipped on water dreaming of our creamy pint of Murphy’s stout after our swim. After a shaky enough sleep due to nerves I think our meet time at Baltimore was 4AM to set sail out to Fastnet Rock lighthouse. I don’t remember much about the journey out as I was so nervous, but I can remember trying to stay busy with music and stretching. Graces boat was quicker and got there a good 30 mins before us. Before we know it, the tiny lighthouse was a big lighthouse, and it was time. All my training was done, I visualised this moment for a year. It was happening. The sky was bliss, and you could feel the magic in the air. I got greased up and bounced in with a task of getting as close to Grace as we can. Very hard as she’s a world class swimmer. My plan was to not feed for the first hour and try get close to 4k in the first hour for a good start. I think I hit 3.8k, I was feeling ok and just remember a complete clean, clear sky with planes passing by. I had trouble with my hips early on and asked for pain relief on next feed. (Usually not a good sign asking for pain relief so early into swim) however when paracetamol kicked in I was able to engage my kick more efficiently and felt a smoother stroke. Not long after my 2nd feed I hit the dreaded cold spot, this is the area that really messes with your head, thank God I had spoken with previous swimmers of Fastnet that reminded me that you hit a cold spot that hits you like stabbing daggers but assured me it gets warmer again and can even rise another 5 degrees closer you get to Baltimore. I got through the cold patch, I was swimming well, there was no jellies, I was feeding well, I was getting closer to Graces boat and Baltimore. I knew something special was on as the encouragement I was getting from the boat was starting to raise, they were getting louder, telling me to pick my stroke rate up, kick more. I was ahead of the course record but unfortunately the tide was on the turn, it was probably the hottest day of the year, a Saturday and every man and child that had a boat was out that day. Coming into Baltimore I maybe took a feed that I didn’t need, or I should have taken it quicker, I got hit with a few wakes from passing boats that slowed me up a bit, we had to navigate through the boats. The slip was sight, I had dreamed about running up that slip and the dream was becoming a reality, Grace was there to greet me, we were both ecstatic. Grace took the female record but unfortunately, I was 1 minute of Andrew Packers course record. This is something I beat myself up a bit about for a while but now I realise that I’m rubbing shoulders with quality, world class swimmers and I need to be grateful for the unbelievable achievement and wonderful swim I just done. (An experience of a lifetime) I had a lovely warm shower after my swim, and I have a tradition of wearing a new T shirt or jumper after a big swim to make me feel good. Nathan and Noel treated myself and Grace to Pizza and pints in Baltimore. The sun was out, the town was buzzing and so were we. That night will always stay with me for one of the best nights of my life, we mistakenly gatecrashed an engagement party where we got fed and got to listen to class music by the fire. We still laugh to this day at me chasing the kids from the party away from the fire of their party so we could hog it. lol We laughed all night and finished the next day off with a lovely dip in the lake. Thank you Fastnet, thank you Cork, thank you Nathan and Noel, and thank you Grace. I will be back (not to swim, just for the craic)