This article is from page 27 of the 2007-12-25 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 27 JPG
SWIMMERS from all over north Clare and beyond are to brave the cold waters of the Atlantic on Christ- mas morning in an effort to raise money for two worthy causes.
First up 1s Lahinch, where up to 200 swimmers will take to the water for one of the county’s largest and long- est-running charity swims.
“The swim starts off on Christmas morning at 12.15pm and anyone who wants to come along for a dip 1s more than welcome. This year, all money raised from the swim will go to sup-
porting the Clare Crusaders. It’s in memory of Howard Flannery, who did a lot of great work in this area,” said swim organiser, John Fawl.
“If people want to get involved, they can still get sponsorship cards from me, or they can just turn up on the day. We won’t turn anyone away and all donations are very welcome.
“The swim is really going from strength to strength. We had about 170 people in the water last year. It was around that number anyway, there was so many in the water at one stage that it was getting difficult to count.
“It is getting bigger and bigger each year. We have a large crowd now, who come down just to watch the swimmers getting into the water. The prom is usually full of people so it has turned into a huge community occasion,’ he added.
“After the swim the tradition is to go into O’Looney’s for a hot whiskey to warm up the swimmers. All the hot whiskies are sponsored though, we have to keep inside the law.”
Meanwhile, up the road in Doo- lin, St Breckans GAA Club have organised their first-ever Christmas day swim.
“The sponsored swim is in aid of the St Breckans GAA Field Commit- tee. This is the first year that we have tried a swim, so were are hoping for a good turnout. The swim takes place in Doolin from Ipm on Christ- mas Day,” said Susan Neville of the St Breckans GAA Field Committee.
“If people want to get involved, there are sponsorship cards available from all the committee members of St Breckans GAA Club. People can either swim off the pier or off the small beach in Doolin and all specta- tors are more than welcome to come along for a look.”