Iconic harbour swim to make waves in Dún Laoghaire

THE 87th Dún Laoghaire Harbour Race takes place on August 13 this year.

The iconic event is part of the Open Sea Swim Season which opened on May 28 and closes with the Jones Engineering Dublin City Liffey Swim on September 9.

 Approximately 40 swim events take place during the season

?? in Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, Westmeath and Galway

?? and thousands take part.

Earlier this year, the Jones Engineering Group announced a 10-year sponsorship of the Leinster Open Sea Swim Series in conjunction with Swim Ireland.  

The Jones Engineering Dublin City Liffey Swim is one of Europe’s most
prestigious open sea competitions.

This year over 500 swimmers of all ages, abilities and nationalities are expected to compete to win the coveted Cup.

First run in 1920, the swim is the oldest continuously run annual swimming race in Europe.

The former Lord Mayor of Dublin, Brendan Carr, said Dublin City Council was a proud supporter of the Dublin City Liffey Swim for many years.

“I’m delighted that Jones Engineering Group is becoming the title sponsor and supporting the continued development of the race,

? he said.

“The Jones Engineering Dublin City Liffey Swim provides us with a great tourism opportunity for Dublin as we work to attract new visitors to our city.

?

 Jim Curley, Director and Chief Executive Officer of Jones Engineering Group said:

“There is no other event like it for colour, excitement and spectacle.  It has a special place in the hearts of Dubliners and our own company has a strong connection to the race. We are very excited to work with Dublin City Council and Leinster Open Sea as we begin planning for the 100th anniversary of the race in 2019.

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Gus Cooney, of Leinster Open Sea Series, the organising body of the race, said:

“In recent years there has been a very strong partnership with Dublin City Council and we are delighted that this will also continue.

“Swim Ireland have also come on board this year with us to help foster the growing interest in open water swimming.

?

 One of the earliest Liffey Swims was immortalised in the 1923 Jack B Yeats painting entitled

‘The Liffey Swim’, which won him a silver medal at the 1924 Paris Olympics competition for artistic endeavour.

Each year, the race winners receive a printed copy of the famous Jack B Yeats painting.

Along with the Dublin City Liffey Swim the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Race is rightly considered one of the most prestigious swimming races on the Leinster Open Sea Calendar.

For swimmers winning the Dún Laoghaire Harbour Race it is akin to winning an All-Ireland Final. Sea swimmers aim to win one of the big two races in their swimming career.

The Dún Laoghaire Harbour Race caters for swimmers as young as 14 years of age up to senior citizens. There are also two children’s races of 100 metres and 200 metres for children 13 years of age and younger which are held before the men’s race.

As the Dún Laoghaire Harbour race is a handicapped race every swimmer has a chance of winning so you do not have to be a former Olympian to either compete or win.

The Dún Laoghaire Harbour Race was first run in 1931 and it has run every year since, making it the second oldest continuous race in Ireland.

There were, however, swimming races run in Dún Laoghaire Harbour before 1931. Irish Olympians Donnacha O’Dea, Kevin Williamson and David Cummins have won the men’s race. English Channel Swimmers Anne McAdam and Lisa Howley have won the ladies’ race.

The Dún Laoghaire Harbour Race comprises a 2,200 metre route around the circumference of Dún Laoghaire Harbour battling fellow swimmers, reaching marker buoys, avoiding any number of obstacles and taking on the might that is the Irish Sea.

The race starts at the RNLI slipway beside the East Pier. The swimmers then swim out by the National Yacht Club of Ireland, the RNLI lifeboat and out along the Carlisle Pier. 

They then swim across from the Carlisle Pier to the mouth of the Harbour and the East Pier Lighthouse.

This is roughly the half way point. Friends, family and spectators can walk or run along the East Pier and follow the swimmers as they battle the last 1,000 metres home. Then its past the anemometer, the Boyd Memorial, and finally the last gruelling 200 metres back to the finish line at the RNLI slipway.

The Dún Laoghaire Harbour Race is different to most sea races as there is considerable interaction between the crowd and the swimmers. 

There is an opportunity for the crowd looking down from the East pier to clap and cheer on swimmers as they start their journey out around the Harbour. 

The swimmers in the water can see and they certainly can hear the crowds on the return journey along the East Pier. 

The louder the crowd cheer the closer a swimmer is to the front of the race. Friends and family can identify individual swimmers as they swim past from the East Pier. 

The only other swim which has the same interaction between swimmers and spectators is of course the Dublin City Liffey Swim.