Wicklow Swimming Club (W.S.C) has been very busy since the start of August, hosting five days of events to coincide with the Wicklow Regatta festival. The Committee cup was first on the agenda, when eighty eight swimmers took to the water for this 1,000m race, which saw Gary Morton jr put in a great performance to take first place, 2^nd Jenny Hudson, 3^rd Peter Nolan.

The annual Masters Vartry was held on Saturday 4^th August. This event is kindly sponsored by the Byrne family.  Fifty eight swimmers took to the river at the Sailing Club slip and raced to the Parnell Bridge. Mens results: 1^st Peter O’Keane, 2^nd Donal McGuire, 3^rd Paul Hennessey. Ladies result: 1^st Sadie Howse, 2^nd Angela O’Sullivan, and 3rd Karen Copeland.

The Swimming club held its second Open Sea Swim event of the year on Sunday 5^th August. This race is part of the Leinster Open Sea calendar and split into Ladies and men’s sections. Two hundred and eleven swimmers from all over the east coast of Ireland took part in this competition over a course of 1,500 metres. Men’s results, 126 swimmers: 1^st Cormac McKenna (Glenalbyn Masters), 2^nd Gary Morton (Wicklow), 3^rd Ciaran Caverly (St Vincent’s) 4^th Buddy Kinsella (Wicklow) 5^th Philip White (Eastern Bay), 6^th Mark Mongey (St Vincent’s). Ladies result, 85 swimmers : 1^st Mairead Keighery (Wicklow), 2^nd Susan Ritche (Tallaght masters), 3^rd Anne-Marie Burke (Dublin), Molly Molloy(Dublin), 5^th Emma Kavanagh (Wicklow), 6^th Denise O’Brien (Wicklow).

Results for Wednesday 8^th August. The Intermediates swam for the Chairman’s cup, 1^st Aoife Dunne, 2^nd Aine Cahill, 3^rd Niamh Galligan.  The same evening ninety senior swimmers raced for the Irish Rubies cup, which is kindly sponsored by Clifford Dowling of the Leitrim Lounge. 1^st Kathleen Cowdrey, 2^nd Donal McGuire and 3^rd Terry McGuire.

Sunday 12^th August was a miserable damp morning, but this didn’t discourage swimmers of all ages from taking part in the morning’s races. First on the cards was the Junior Challenge 1st Josh Griffin, 2^nd William Seylour, 3rd Ben Hudson, 4th Oisin O’Neill, 5th Dara Cahill, 6th Dara Owen.  Next up, 28 intermediates raced for the Coello cup (400 mtrs), which had a very close finish, that saw Connor Vize take 1^st place, 2^nd Julie Carey, 3^rd Nicole Humby and 4^th Luke Whyte. Eighty eight senior swimmers braved the choppy water in the rain to swim for the Brennan Cup, sponsored by the Brennan family. Men’s result: 1^st Tommy (Torpedo) Moran, 2^nd Shay Jameson, 3^rd Colm Byrne. Ladies result: 1^st Mary Burbage, 2^nd Sadie Howes, 3^rd Jackie Olohan.

The Black Castle Swim is on Wednesday 15^th August. This event takes place at 7.15 pm, starting at Travellahawk and finishing at the Lifeboat slip. This is a great event to watch from the Castle and the Lighthouse pier.

Races for Sunday 19^th August: 10.45 am Junior challenge, 11 am youths race and at 12.30 the annual Club Vartry will take place. This is the longest race of the club’s calendar (1800 mtrs approx) and will start at the rocks, just below the Murrough car park and finish at the Parnell Bridge, Bachelors Walk. This race has been sponsored by the Fitzpatrick family (Fitz’s-Rathnew) for the past 62 years.

Peter ‘Bip’ O’Reilly (PRO)