Castle to Castle Swim to remember late Jim O'Connor

The inaugural Jim O'Connor Memorial Castle to Castle swim, a 13.5km event from Rindoon Castle to Athlone Castle on August 26, is just the kind of challenge the man it remembers would have relished.

“Jim would've loved it and would want to be part of it,” his friend Charlie Naughton, who is part of the organising committee behind the long distance charity swim event said. “Although he would have probably said it was too easy for him,” he joked.

Back in 2012, the late Jim completed an amazing solo swim of Lough Ree in 'skins' that is without a wetsuit, a feat of physical strength and endurance unmatched more than a decade on, although some have done it in pairs or in relay. His memorable 34km swim from Lanesboro bridge to Athlone bridge took a gruelling 13 hours 34 minutes and many locals have fond memories of the rapturous reception Jim received as he emerged at the slipway, close to Sean's Bar.

“Jim liked a big challenge and what he did that day (swimming Lough Ree) was 34km, there are not many people who would be able to take that on, so what we're putting out there is a 13.5km swim from Rindoon Castle to Athlone Castle, so it's the type of challenge Jim would have liked himself and we hope it will be a fitting tribute to him,” Charlie said of the new event remembering Jim, who sadly passed away in 2018.

“Jim was a great character, I had known him since I was quite young. He was full of life and great at motivating people in the pool, usually through slagging. There was always good banter when he was there and when he took on that challenge (Lough Ree), he was so determined and there was no way he wasn't going to finish it, no matter what,” Charlie remembered, giving special mention to the hard work of Jim's coach at that time, Dave Warby.

“It was a great day, I was on the river for some of it, and we were there at the end when he came in and the reception he got was something else,” recalled Charlie.

Now, Jim's family and friends want to recognise that achievement and harness his determined spirit via this fundraising swim for Pieta which they hope will become an annual event in his name.

It will be open to 30 solo swimmers, with just a handful of places left, and up to 70 relay swimmers, the relay team places are already sold out, but some teams are still looking for swimmers to take a leg.

A event like this doesn't happen without a lot of help, and Charlie, who was speaking on behalf of the organising committee, paid tribute to all of the local groups who have come on board.

“Straight away, we reached out to Athlone Sub Aqua Club who have always been involved in anything that happens on the river, and we are also working with Inny Kayak Club over in Ballymahon. Waterways Ireland will also be involved, the RNLI, and everyone coming on board to make sure it's a safe event for everyone because a swim like this is in the outer lake, so every swimmer will have a boat or kayak to guide them.

“That's a big operation in itself, but we have a good team, including Jim's wife Joanne, and a lot of them have done big open water swims before so they have experience,” said Charlie, who is Swim Coordinator in Athlone Regional Sports Centre.

The group hopes to raise a lot of money for Pieta in the process, and the time of writing, the idonate fundraising page was already at over €5,900.

“It's great for the town because there aren't many events, long distance swims, like this in the country. For years, Athlone had the Shannon Swim, the Triathlone and we had the Flatline swim and that gave locals a chance to swim under the White Bridge, which is a great thing for a swimmer to go down the river and under the bridge,” he said of the event which will start in waves on August 26 from 9am and finish by 3pm or so.

Depending on weather conditions, a fast swimmer could finish the swim in three and half hours or so, for others it could be more in region of five hours but it is “quite a task” to take on.

“It is very much dependent on the day. Last year there were two swimmers who swam the full length of Lough Ree, the same as Jim, but they got a beautiful calm day. The day Jim swam it he has the wind going out and the conditions were a lot more choppy.

“It's very much on the day, and you're in the lake for most of it so you don't ge the advantage of the river until the final 2k and the pull downstream. We're hoping a for a good day,” he enthused, saying that plenty of locals have already signed up, with participants also coming from Dublin and Galway.

For the public, there are several ways to support the fundraising swim.

“You can sponsor one of the swimmers, sponsor a relay team or just go in and donate to the cause and if you go in to the website www.castletocastleswim.ie or the idonate.ie fundraising page and that will be up and running until the end of August.

“The relays are all now booked out, but there are some relay teams (two to four swimmers) looking for swimmers so if anyone wants to join a relay team if they could email us and we'll try and match them up. There are under 10 spaces for solo swimmers left,” he concluded.