A Newry teenager is aiming to become the youngest person to complete the Irish Triple Crown swimming challenge.
A-level student Daniel Smyth (17) has already become the youngest solo swimmer to cross the North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland.
He also completed the Galway Bay swim earlier this month and now has his eye fixed on the Fastnet swim in Co Cork to finish the Irish Triple Crown.
Daniel is hoping to become the youngest to do the challenge, as well as completing the three swims in the shortest period of time. He admitted his focus on swimming only started to aid his water polo performance, but he soon caught the bug of distance swimming.
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He took part in the youngest team of people to swim the North Channel, around 35km, from Donaghadee in Co Down, and Portpatrick in Scotland last September, and followed that up by becoming the youngest individual to complete the swim in July in a time of 12 hours and 26 minutes.
He completed the 10.5km Galway Bay swim on August 30th in a time of two hours and 31 minutes, and is hoping to complete Fastnet, a 20.5km swim from Fastnet Rock and Baltimore Pier in Co Cork this month.
While many channel swimmers battle jellyfish stings Daniel said he managed to escape them during his solo swim to Scotland, describing the currents as a tougher challenge. He said as he approached Scotland, he had to battle a current for three hours.
“There were two Scottish guys camping on the beach when I landed, they said hello and asked if I had come from Portpatrick because I’d landed a couple of km from there, so I said: ‘no, I came from Ireland’.”
He said he celebrated the swim with a burger and milkshake, and was delighted to receive a video from swimming Olympic gold medallist Daniel Wiffen congratulating him.
“So I’m focused on the Triple Crown at the minute, and my A-levels which are also very important, I am told,” he said. “Then university and I’ll see what other challenges come up. If I see something that sounds pretty cool, I’ll probably give it a go.”
Daniel’s mother, Elena, paid tribute to his maturity to cope with a challenge that many tend to try later in life.
“He’s a very sociable person and this is a very lonely sport, the solo swim, but he seems to have the mentality to do it. He always baffles us as to how he can keep going.” – PA