Baltimore Swim

Three members of the Blackwater Triathlon Club headed to Baltimore on Saturday the 2nd of October, to take part in the Lousy Rocks Swim. Frank Hallissey, Mary Collins and Mary O’Donnell were among the 200 swimmers who were taking part in the swim, which was part of the ‘Baltimore Wet Weekend’ in aid of the community run Wild Atlantic Pool in Baltimore. Originally there was an entire weekend of swims planned but, due to Covid restrictions, it was decided to just hold just a single event. Starting at 2.30pm the swim began on the Baltimore slipway with the swimmers heading out around the eponymous Lousy Rocks and back. While the water was pleasantly warm on the day the conditions weren’t ideal with a combination of strong winds and tides made for very choppy conditions. The route was changed slightly due to the conditions, reducing the swim to 2.1km on the day. The first kilometre, swimming in to the waves was slow going with the waves making sighting quite difficult. Then, on the return leg, the swimmers had to deal with dropping into the waves as they headed back to shore. It definitely wasn’t an event for the faint-hearted. Mary O’Donnell, who has been incredibly active over the last few weeks, made light of the conditions, and despite her diminutive frame powered home in a very good time of 37 minutes. Frank, who definitely wouldn’t be considered diminutive, swam in skins and made it home in 40 minutes. Mary Collins also made it home safely on the day. Well done to all who took part in the event and to the organisers who had to deal with the double whammy of covid restriction and tough conditions on the day, but managed to pull the whole thing off really well. Hopefully, next year will see a much expanded Wet Weekend event in Baltimore.