Blackwater Triathlon Club’s resident water babies, Dave Mulcahy and Declan O’Keeffe, were out in their favourite environment once again this weekend taking part in the annual Lough Allua open water swim. This charity swim took place in the scenic Lough Allua between Ballingeary and Inchigeelah at the foothills of the Shehy Mountains. The swim was being held to raise money for the Bishopstown Lions Club who will provide funds to local charities in Bishopstown and Inchigeelah. This challenging 8km swim is the length of Lough Allua, finishing in the small village of Inchigeelagh outside the lake after a down-river leg of about two kilometres. Apart from the glorious scenery, what makes Lough Allua a noted swim is the reputed navigational difficulty. Stories abound of swimmers having to swim a kilometre extra because of said difficulty and making mistakes. Fortunately neither Dave nor Declan suffered any major problems on the day with both of them completing this marathon swim. Conditions on the day were perfect for open water swimming, especially for the likes of Dave and Declan who don’t wear wetsuits at this time of year. The only problem on the day was that, due to the very dry conditions over the last few months, the last 2km along the river were very shallow which made swimming difficult. In fact it would have been easier for the swimmers to wade the last portion. Both Dave and Declan finished the swim in just over two hours. Well done to both of them and everyone else who took part in this marathon swimming event on the day.