Itwas a busy day in Corkon Saturday the 13^th of July this year as the 15th edition of the‘New’ Lee Swim took place.  Originallyheld in 1914, the annual Vibes and Scribes Lee Swim in Corkhas become one of the top open water swimming events in Ireland and indeed, the world. Thisvery popular event was ranked No 17 in the World Top 100 open water swims in2014. It was a beautiful summer day in Corkon Saturday, with temperatures well in to the mid twenties, perfect for the hugethrongs of spectators who turned up to supportthe swimmers. The Swim takes place over a unique 2,000m course, comprising a1,700m downstream leg in the North Channel of the Lee from St Vincent’s Bridgeto Customs House Point and an upstream leg of 300m in the South Channel to thefinish at ClontarfBridge. This year theBlackwater Triathlon Club had a big contingent of swimmers taking part on theday, all of whom had just two things on their minds, surviving the Lee and regainingthe team prize that the club so narrowly lost out on last year. It was a Trojan effort fromall the BTC members and everyone did fantastically well. The water was very pleasant and tidal conditions onthe day meant that average race times were between 5 to 6 minutes faster thanlast year.  The swimmers also got toswim under The Lee’s newest bridge, The Bridge of Remembrance, which was also avery popular viewing point for spectators this year. The 21 swimmers who wereswimming under the Blackwater Triathlon Club banner on the day posted excellenttimes and once again BTC was awarded the team prize, the Tadhg PhilpottMemorial Cup, beating Mallow by a single point.

 Over thelast four years the Blackwater Triathlon Club has been second, first , second andnow first again in the team event. This is an incredible result for the clubwhen you consider the quality of the competitors from many different swimmingclubs on the day. This is a testament to the commitment shown by the club totraining and showed the benefits of the hard winter training in the pool andthe club’s structured swimming programs.

Our swimmers all performed well in their individual categories on the day.  In the non-wetsuit categories Frank Hallisseyfinished second in the 35-39 years age group, while in the 55-59 age groupDeclan O’Keeffe was second and Julian Boegwas third. Dave Mulcahy, another one of our open water swimming experts was 8thin the 60-64 year age group and Dave Dowling was 10^th in the 45-49years category. In the wetsuit categories our youngest participant on the daywas Anna O’Keeffe, who finished second in the girls under 18 age group in28:22.8, finishing two places higher than last year. She has her sights firmlyset on first place in 2020. The other Blackwater ladies who took part on theday also did very well with NiamhFleming coming home third in the 50-54 age group again this year and KateLawton finishing 5^th in the 30-34 age group.Inthe men’s 35-39 age group, Jonathon Kenneally, Martin Feeney and Peter O’Brienall had top ten finishes, with Adrian Collins also swimming well on the day.Christian Board, Aidan Sheridan and Vinnie McCarthy all did well in the 40-45years age group.  As he did last year,Justin McCarthy won the Gold Medal in the 50 – 54 age group. Dave Bartley andConor O’Geran also competed in that age group. Brian Baker, Declan Rea and SeanLomasney completed the BTC contingent on the day in the 55-59 age group. Brianbettered his placing by two places from last year’s race, winning the GoldMedal, while Declan placed third, just 40 seconds behind Brian. Well done tothe BTC crew and all the other swimmers who took part on the day. It was a verysuccessful day for the club and a marker of what can be achieved. We’ll be backnext year to hopefully get retain the team prize and increase our haul ofmedals. There was a brilliant atmosphere and spirit around the race. Creditmust go to the organisers and the large numbers of volunteers who made surethat once again the race ran smoothly and safely.