Preparing for his fourth Jim O'Connor Castle to Castle Swim this weekend

After taking up swimming as an adult following cancer surgery, John Ryan has become one of the familiar faces of the Jim O’Connor Memorial Castle-to-Castle Swim — and is now building towards some of open water’s toughest challenges.

When John lines up for the Castle-to-Castle Swim tomorrow (Saturday, August 22), it will mark his fourth appearance as a skins solo swimmer in an event he has supported since its beginning.

But this year’s swim will come at the end of an already remarkable season in the water.

On 2 May, John completed a 23 km two-way Galway Bay swim in 12 hours and 25 minutes. On 23 June, he swam 37 km across the Bristol Channel in 13 hours and 15 minutes.

Just weeks later, on 10 July, he swam the full 32 km length of Lough Ree, from the bridge in Lanesborough to the town bridge in Athlone, in 13 hours and 57 minutes.

Each of those swims has also carried a fundraising purpose. Under the auspices of the Castle-to-Castle Swim, John has raised more than €6,000 for Pieta so far this season.

It is a long way from where his swimming story began.

John, a native of Nenagh, worked in Athlone for twelve years with An Post Insurance.

In spring 2016, following cancer surgery the previous year and determined to rebuild his fitness, John enrolled in adult swimming lessons at Athlone Regional Sports Centre through the centre’s Swim for Life programme.

Later that year, he took part in Swim Ireland’s Swim for a Mile initiative and continued to develop through Athlone RSC’s weekly Lane Coach programme. At the time, the idea of long-distance open-water swimming was far beyond anything he had imagined.

“I had no background in swimming whatsoever,” John recalls. “I could do a basic breaststroke, but I couldn’t front crawl, and I hadn’t really done anything fitness-wise for almost 25 years. The first couple of years of getting into swimming as an adult were very challenging, both from a fitness perspective and in terms of learning basic swimming technique.”

He credits the encouragement of the Athlone RSC swim team with helping him persist. One turning point was a 10km pool challenge at the centre, made up of 100 repetitions of 100m. John completed around 7.5 km, but the experience changed what he believed was possible.

Like many swimmers, John was drawn into open water during the Covid years, when pools were closed for long periods. He began training with friends around Portlick, gradually building up longer swims of up to five kilometres around Portlick, Killinure, Inchmore and Marks Bay.

The group swam throughout the year, including night swims and bitterly cold winter outings. John was still wearing a wetsuit then, but at the end of 2021 he made the switch to skins swimming and has not worn a wetsuit since.

As his swimming developed and he relocated to Wicklow in 2020, John’s focus moved increasingly towards the sea around Greystones. There he trained regularly with experienced long-distance and channel swimmers, learning from their preparation, discipline and support.

Over the past few years, he has taken on channel swims including the English Channel and Bristol Channel — experiences that gave him a close-up view of what such attempts demand, physically and mentally.

By 2023, John’s own ambitions were growing. In May that year, he completed his first six-hour swim at the Hit the Wall open-water swimming camp in Carlingford Lough. Later that summer, he took part in the inaugural Castle to Castle Swim, finishing in 5 hours and 31 minutes.

At the end of 2023, John decided he wanted to attempt the North Channel. He booked a slot for August 2026 and committed to a three-year training plan.

The following year brought more progress. In 2024, John completed the Castle-to-Castle Swim again. A month later, he completed the Fastnet Lighthouse solo swim in 6 hours and 54 minutes, swimming from Baltimore to the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse.

Not every challenge has ended with the finish he wanted. In June 2025, John set off on a two-way swim from the Kish Lighthouse to the Forty Foot. John reached the Kish, 12.5 km out to sea, in just over seven hours, but cold water and tough tide and wind conditions meant the planned return leg was abandoned.

The following month, he travelled to Scotland to attempt the Dal Riata Channel — the 21 km stretch between the Mull of Kintyre and Torr Head in Co. Antrim. The Dal Riata is notorious for cold water, lion’s mane jellyfish and overfalls that can create severe wind-over-tide disturbance.

After 11 hours and 20 minutes, having covered more than 40 km up and down the channel, John was still around 5 km out from Cushendall Bay. Badly stung, cold, weakened and well out of position, he and his pilot and crew made the decision to stop the swim.

In hindsight, John sees it as a crucial learning experience. It exposed gaps in his preparation, both mentally and physically, and led him to postpone his North Channel attempt until 2027 while completely overhauling his winter training.

That work appears to be paying off. With three swims of more than 12 hours already completed this season, John now turns his attention back to the Castle-to-Castle Swim later this month.

His successful swim of the full length of Lough Ree in July carried special meaning. It repeated the swim first completed in skins by Jim O’Connor in 2012, in whose memory the Castle-to-Castle Swim was established.

John also has a personal connection with Lough Ree, where he spends time every May fly fishing for trout and which he describes as one of the most special places in Ireland.

“It has been fantastic to see the Castle-to-Castle Swim grow in strength and popularity over the past four years,” John says.

“It is an exceptionally well-organised and well-run event, and it provides a significant challenge to swimmers of all calibres and experience levels. While I’m really looking forward to taking part again this year, I’m also well aware of how tough a swim it can be.

“The 13.5 km distance may sound manageable compared with some of the swims I have completed, but on the day the weather conditions can pose significant challenges for both the swimmer and the kayaker.

“I have still not managed to better my swim time from my first Castle to Castle Swim in 2023, so hopefully this year I’ll be a bit faster.”

Largest Swim Yet

The fourth Jim O’Connor Memorial Castle-to-Castle Swim this Saturday promises to be the largest yet, with 37 solo swimmers and 70 swimmers in relay teams taking part.

Fundraising is also well on target this year. Since its launch in 2023, and before this year’s event, the swim has raised more than €229,000 for Pieta.

Joanne O’Connor of the Jim O’Connor Memorial Castle-to-Castle Swim committee said: “We want to thank all 107 swimmers and over 100 volunteers who are going to make this another special day.

"We hope the people of Athlone will come out yet again on Saturday afternoon to show their support and enjoy the celebrations and make this another massive fundraiser for Pieta”.

The solo swimmers begin at Rindoon at 9.30am, with the relay teams starting at 10am.

If you would like to welcome swimmers into Athlone come along to the 13.5km finish line at Athlone Castle. There will be music, swim commentary, food stalls, an ice cream van and a coffee dock all afternoon from 12.30pm to 4.30pm.

To sponsor a swimmer or donate to Pieta visit: www.castletocastleswim.ie