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, 2nd Jenny Hudson, 3rd Peter Nolan.
The annual Masters Vartry was held on Saturday 4th 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: 1st Peter O’Keane, 2nd Donal McGuire, 3rd Paul Hennessey. Ladies result: 1st Sadie Howse, 2nd Angela O’Sullivan, and 3rd Karen Copeland.
The Swimming club held its second Open Sea Swim event of the year on Sunday 5th 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: 1st Cormac McKenna (Glenalbyn Masters), 2nd Gary Morton (Wicklow), 3rd Ciaran Caverly (St Vincent’s) 4th Buddy Kinsella (Wicklow) 5th Philip White (Eastern Bay), 6th Mark Mongey (St Vincent’s). Ladies result, 85 swimmers : 1st Mairead Keighery (Wicklow), 2nd Susan Ritche (Tallaght masters), 3rd Anne-Marie Burke (Dublin), Molly Molloy(Dublin), 5th Emma Kavanagh (Wicklow), 6th Denise O’Brien (Wicklow).
Results for Wednesday 8th August. The Intermediates swam for the Chairman’s cup, 1st Aoife Dunne, 2nd Aine Cahill, 3rd 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. 1st Kathleen Cowdrey, 2nd Donal McGuire and 3rd Terry McGuire.
Sunday 12th 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, 2nd 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 1st place, 2nd Julie Carey, 3rd Nicole Humby and 4th 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: 1st Tommy (Torpedo) Moran, 2nd Shay Jameson, 3rd Colm Byrne. Ladies result: 1st Mary Burbage, 2nd Sadie Howes, 3rd Jackie Olohan.
The Black Castle Swim is on Wednesday 15th 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 19th 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)