Braveheart

A NORTHSIDE man is celebrating after becoming the oldest man ever to swim the North Channel.

Fergal Somerville (50), from Beaumont, achieved his extraordinary feat on June 16 when he swam from Northern Ireland to Scotland in a time of 12 hours and 21 minutes.

Fergal, who even encountered a shark on his gruelling journey, left Donaghadee in County Down at 5.10am and arrived on the Scottish coast, just north of Portpatrick, at 5.21pm.

It proved to be second time lucky for the plucky Northsider. On July 10, 2012, his first attempt ended due to bad weather when he was one and a half hours into the swim.

Fergal, who swam the English Channel in 2011, conceded that there were times when he felt he wasn’t going to make it.

“There were lots of times but I just wouldn’t give up,

? he told Northside People.

“Every time I felt like stopping I just pushed harder. I knew the early start meant prolonged cold for a number of hours. I had practiced and swam in cold water as often as I could, even completing an International Ice Mile in February in 3.5C in Lough Dan.

“The average temperature was between 9.5 and 10 degrees – the coldest temperature it was ever swam in given our coldest winter for 62 years.

?

Prior to the race, Fergal used a permanent marker to write the letter

‘E’ on the palm of his hand and a

‘C’ on the other – a reference to his sons Eoin and Conor. He felt this would help to drive him on when things got tough.

“When I needed to pick things up (or to just stop feeling sorry for myself) I would drive on at an increased pace,

? he said.

“As the left hand entered the water I would strain

‘Eoin’ and pull all the way through to the hip.

“As the right hand took its turn I would strain

‘Conor’ and again pull through to the hip.

?

Fergal’s stroke rate started off at approximately 71 strokes per minute.

“By the final few minutes the rate had fallen to 61 strokes per minute,

? he said.

“I had an average of 65 strokes per minute, or over 50,000 strokes for the day.

“To prepare for this I swam over 1,000km in each of the last three years – 1,000,000 metres or 40,000 lengths of your local pool.

?

During the swim, Fergal said he had an

“interesting experience

? with a shark.

“As I battled along in the bright (about 9.15am), I saw a shark swimming about two and a half metres below me,

? he said.

“The great blue elegant beast was about eight to 10 feet long. I wondered if I was going to start flailing my arms and screaming to be taken into the boat before I was devoured. But I hadn’t changed my stroke or pace.

“In a flash I decided the swim was too important and I kept going. I didn’t signal to the boat, although I looked across to see if they were aware of the shark I saw or possibly others. There was no reaction from them at all. I kept going. The shark passed under me another three times.

?

Fergal, who was cheered on by his wife Mags as well as his sons and friends, said he only found out the day after the swim that he was the oldest man to have achieved the feat.

“If I had known that I would be the oldest at 50, five years older than the next swimmer, I don’t think I would have thought it possible,

? he said.

As with all his swim challenges, Fergal raised money for charity and the beneficiaries this time will be the Irish Cancer Society.

“My son, Eoin, who lives in Washington DC, suggested a cancer charity when Mags and I visited him last April,

? he added.

“My mother died from cancer years ago, but he and she were very close and he carries her rosary beads forever.

?

Fergal, a proud member of Eastern Bay Swim Team, said he owes a substantial part of his success to Declan Proctor, Robbie Clarke, John Daly, Tony Mullins, Nichola Gilliland, Jerry Kiersey and many more.

He also reserved special thanks for his crew and those who couldn’t be on the support boat.