Swim organisers bidding to reach €40k target for Pieta
Organisers of the inaugural Jim O'Connor Memorial Castle to Castle swim this weekend are bidding to reach a new fundraising target of €40,000 for Pieta, having already breached the initial €30,000 mark. Close to 70 swimmers, including 20 relay teams and around 30 solo swimmers, will participate in the 13.5km swim from Rindoon Castle in South Roscommon to the finish line at Athlone Castle on Saturday, August 26 as part of the event remembering Jim, who sadly passed away in 2018.
Coach Dave Warby, who is also one of the organisers, and a great friend of Jim O'Connor, conceded it will be an “emotional” day but he is delighted Jim’s legacy will live on in the event.
“I can see him smiling at this event. It's 11 years ago this weekend that Jim actually swam the full length of Lough Ree. It took him 13 hours 40 minutes.
“The swimmers on the day are doing 13 and half kilometres, so it will just show people a small bit of what he went through,” he told the Westmeath Independent, adding that organisers hope it will become an annual swim event in Midlands.
“We have some big names in the marathon swimming world coming to our event on Saturday, and over the years we think this will grow to a point where we'll have international swimmers coming in years to come. It's year one, we're starting small, but it will grow. It's really going to showcase the Shannon and Athlone and all it has to offer,” added Dave, who underlined that it couldn't happen without a lot of organisations coming on board to help.
They are hugely grateful to have the RNLI, Athlone Sub Aqua Club, Inny Kayaking and Waterways Ireland helping with the running of the swim and providing safety cover.
They also extended their gratitude to Baysports for use of their facilities on the morning, Athlone Boat Club for the use of their changing facilities, the army for providing parking and many others who have helped in a variety of ways.
Hoping that the weather gods favour them on the day, Dave encouraged the public to come out and show their support for the solo and relay swimmers, some of whom struggled to swim 100 metres a couple of years ago and now, are taking on a long distance swim.
“We'd like to see people around the castle starting at 12.30. The first swimmer will probably coming in around 1pm, and the last swimmer between 3.30 and 4pm,” Dave added.