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TEN DAYS SINCE Daragh Morgan began his swim around Ireland’s coastline, he is now 105km in.
Having begun the challenge to swim the 1,600km that encompass Ireland’s coastline on 31 May, the 26-year-old is attempting the world’s first tidal-assisted swim around Ireland in support of both the Simon Community and RNLI.
The Dublin-born man hopes to complete the challenge in four months.
Speaking to The Journal, Morgan said that he has been training for the momentous swim over the past five years. Having always been around the sea growing up, he had the idea to undertake the coastline swim several years ago. He has spent the last number of months intensely preparing for what is roughly six hours of swimming per day to cover between 10 to 14 kilometres, when permitted.
He and his small crew set off from Galway, where he has lived for the past seven years, and have since travelled through the Aran Islands and past Clifden.
The swim is incredibly dependent on the weather, Morgan explained, speaking on a day off from the water due to inclement conditions. He alongside the rest of the three-strong crew, who are following alongside in a small fishing boat, have been “roughing it” as they undertake the challenge.
As they move along the coastline, they have taken to staying with friends and camping.
“We’re doing it kind of a different way, but it’s working,” he said. “We’re coming back to a kind of base most of the days, gearing up, getting the boat ready, going, doing the swims, and coming back, and then getting ready for the next day if it’s permitted.”
Morgan and his crew hope that the swim, titled Swim Éire, will raise valuable funds for both the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the Simon Community.
They chose the homeless charity as they believe housing to be a “basic right” and that it is a rising issue in Ireland.
Funds raised will firstly go towards supporting the swim, such as equipment needed and operational costs, and any funds beyond that will be split between the two charities. The team are hoping to raise €55,000.
“A massive strong point of it is we have people who really know the area, who are so passionate about the area. I think for me, one of the main things that this swim is really showcasing is the passion and love of the people in area,” he said, highlighting areas in Galway such as Conamara.
“This has been in progress for so long, and it’s just brilliant that we can actually see miles on the clock and the needle moving forward,” he said.
You can follow along with Swim Éire here.
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