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Watch out for Series Four of "Abhainn" on RTÉ One...

A new series of the television programme "Abhainn" has begun on RTÉ. There are three parts in this series: one about the River Barrow, one about the River Blackwater (Munster) and one about the River Erne. In the second episode, the one about the Blackwater, Owen O'Keefe from the Martin Duggan Memorial Swim will be talking about the swimming history of the Blackwater in Fermoy and the magic of swimming in the river.

The episode about the Blackwater will be broadcast on Monday, 4th February, at 19:30 on RTÉ One. This programme will be broadcast in Irish but will be subtitled in English. This is the fourth series of the programme and Cláracha Gaeilge are making a great job of it – it would be worth your while to take a look at one or two episodes of it on RTÉ Player if you get a chance. We thank the producers for giving us this great insight into Ireland's inland waterways.

Provisional Date for MDMS 2013

We are very pleased to announce that, all going well, the Martin Duggan Memorial Swim 2013 will take place on the evening of Friday, 14th June. We hope to be able to run the event as normal at Fermoy Rowing Club on Ashe Quay. Two new slipways are being constructed on Ashe Quay and we hope that these will be completed in time for the swim as this will make it much easier for swimmers to enter and exit the water. There are, however, a lot of ongoing works on the Quay but we are hopeful that we will be able to work around these. More details in the coming weeks...

Report, Results, etc. 2012

This message is for all the participants, volunteers and safety crew of yesterday’s swim. 

First of all, we’d like to thank everyone for coming yesterday – it was great to have such a high turnout rate, especially given the less-than-ideal conditions. On the morning of the swim, the current was still very strong and we were considering shortening the course, but we decided that most swimmers should be able to make it once they stayed close to the bank on the upstream section. In the end, 28 of the 30 swimmers who started completed the full 2 km course, and all did so within the 1 hr time limit. A great effort was made by all swimmers to reach the 1 km mark, but once they turned around, they were rewarded for their efforts as the current helped them to complete the second half of the swim in less than half the time it took them to complete the first half – by far the best negative splits that I have ever seen! Well done, swimmers.

All of the swimmers just after the start...

Our Fastest Swimmer this year was Chris Mintern of Sunday’s Well SC who completed the swim in 27:04.1, well clear of the rest of the field. The recipient of the Martin Duggan Memorial Shield for the Youngest Swimmer was Ellen Brooks of Fermoy SC, aged 14 yrs 44 days, who completed the swim in a time of 34:16.0. Ellen also received this prize in 2010. Well done Chris and Ellen! Full results of the swim are available on our Results Archive page. Photographs will be available shortly on our Facebook page… (We would like to take this opportunity to boast that we started 7 mins early and that within 20 mins of the last swimmer finishing, the official results were published in PDF format in both English and Irish, without any electronic timing!)

Brigid Noonan presenting the prize for the Fastest
Swimmer to Chris Mintern, Sunday's Well SC.

John Duggan presenting the Martin Duggan Memorial Shield for
the Youngest Swimmer to Ellen Brooks, Fermoy SC.

We would like to thank Fermoy Rowing Club, Phoenix Kayak Club, the Blackwater Sub-Aqua Club Search & Recovery Unit and other boat crew, Adam, John and Lee, for their continued support of this event, we really could not run the event without it. We would also like to thank our onshore spotters, Leo, Fiona, Anna, Gill, Grace, David, Jack, Mary and Lauren, our referee, Jim, and our timekeepers, Auveen, Catherine, Declan, Joanne and Margaret. I’m sure that the swimmers in particular will want to thank everyone who was involved in providing the much-needed refreshments afterwards, Breda, Amy, Imelda and many many others, including Noel McCarthy of Carry Out off-license, Fermoy! Thanks, of course, to the Duggan family for their continued support of the event and to John for his kind words after yesterday’s swim. Finally, I would like to say a big personal thanks to Brigid Noonan, Dave, Simon and David Mulcahy and George O’Keefe for their help in organizing, and hopefully improving, this event every year.

Well done again to all of our swimmers – we look forward to seeing you all again next year!

Best wishes,

Owen O'Keefe

Event Director - MDMS 2012

Entries Now Open for 2012 Swim!

Hello, everyone! Entries have just opened for the Martin Duggan Memorial Swim 2012. You can enter online by clicking the link on the right-hand-side of the screen. If you prefer, you can enter with pen and paper by downloading this year's Entry Form and posting it to Owen O'Keefe, 3 Springfield, Fermoy, Co. Cork (Ireland). 

The entry fee for this year's swim is €20 for over 18s and €15 for under 18s. These both increase by €5 if you wait until the last week to enter. If you are paying by cheque, please make any cheques payable to Owen O'Keefe & Brigid Noonan.

Don't forget that if you you will be less than 18 yrs old on the day of the swim you need to download the up-to-date Parental Consent Form and return this with your entry. You can return it by e-mail to blackwaterswim@gmail.com or by post to the above address. You will not be allowed to swim without this form!

We will keep you informed with more details as the big day approaches...

Provisional Date Set for 2012 Swim

Greetings all, we hope that you have all had a very successful season and are getting into your winter routines! We are delighted to announce that a provisional date has been set for the Martin Duggan Memorial Swim 2012. That date is Sunday, 1st July 2012. The location is the same as it has always been and more details are to follow regarding times, etc. Stay tuned!