A NORTHSIDE man was celebrating recently after swimming from the Isle of Man to Ireland as part of a relay team.
Conor Turner (22), from Santry, along with Olive Conroy (Ireland), Anna Caron-Nordin (Sweden), Carole Laporte (France), Elina Makinen (Finland) and Rory Fitzgerald (Ireland), made history by becoming the first team ever to complete this swim. The 69km distance took a little over 18 hours to complete.
Conor said he was fortunate to both start and finish the swim.
“I lead the team off by starting the swim from Fenella Beach, Peel, on the Isle of Man, and finished it by landing in Ardglass, County Down,” he told Northside People.
“There were a number of challenges such as swimming in rough and cold waters (temperature of around 12 degrees), mist and jellyfish but the swim was completed in 18 hours and eight minutes.”
The event was the brainchild of Infinity Channel Swimming, who organised the crossing and was lead by Padraig Mallon of Infinity.
“There were two previous unsuccessful attempts, and one successful attempt from Ireland to the Isle of Man in 1979,” added Conor.
“However, as this was a 12-person relay (in 1979), it didn’t conform to channel crossing record rules.”
Those who know Conor will not be surprised by his latest feat, as he is also an international ice swimmer.
Ice swimmers compete in water temperatures at below five degrees Celsius.
Conor was a member of the very successful 15-strong Irish team who travelled over to Burghausen, Germany, in January to compete in the Ice Swimming World Championships.
He finished second overall at the championships in the 1000m and won and set a new world record in his age group.
Conor began Ice Swimming in 2015 after coming across it in extreme sports magazine Red Bull. He was formally introduced to ice swimming by Ger Kennedy, pioneer for the sport in Ireland.
Prior to that, Conor was a pool and open water swimmer. He was an Irish Junior record holder in the pool and competed for Ireland at European Junior Swimming and Open Water Swimming competitions.
