CONSUMER HEALTH:Irish Life employees are hoping to raise €100,000 for the Irish Cancer Society by swimming the English Channel. RONAN McGREEVYlooks back at how it all began and how the final training is progressing
THE RECESSION has affected many businesses badly, not least the financial services sector which has received the bulk of the blame for the downturn.
Having to deal with the collapse in the economy is difficult, but being blamed for the worst recession since the 1930s saps the morale of ordinary financial services workers who are not ultimately responsible for the decisions taken by their superiors.
It was this kind of atmosphere which led to an extraordinary proposal by a senior executive in Irish Life Investment Managers (ILIM), the investment arm of Irish Life.
Last September when the world appeared to be heading for financial Armageddon, Glenn Treacy, the head of quantitative research at ILIM, suggested swimming the English Channel for the Irish Cancer Society, a proposal which would have needed an unprecedented level of commitment from dozens of staff.
Fewer people have swum the 32km (21-mile) stretch from Dover to Calais solo than have climbed Mount Everest in a single year. The currents, sea temperatures and the distances involved – not to mention the problem of jellyfish – make it a near impossible challenge to all but the strongest swimmers.
When the proposal was made there were just four employees out of a staff of almost 140 who were capable of swimming in the sea for any lengthy period of time.
Now, nine months from the time it was first mooted, a team of 16 swimmers, between the ages of 21 and 50, from ILIM will embark this month on a relay swim of the English Channel.
There is also a group of back-up people who won’t share in the pain – or the glory – of crossing the English Channel, but have been involved in the organisation and the fundraising.
The swimmers will use three boats, the first of which leaves on Thursday, with a window of opportunity until September 15th to complete the swim which will take about 10 hours. The other two boats will have a swimming window of between September 24th and 29th.
Mary Ann Hernon (27), a quantitative analyst in ILIM, says: “The idea was to raise money for something, and one of the first ideas was to do something for the Irish Cancer Society and that was our charity of choice.
“Everybody is touched by cancer one way or the other in terms of people they know. In my case, it was an aunt who died three years ago.”
Irish Life employees are hoping to raise €100,000 for the night nursing service, which is almost exclusively funded by private donations.
The money will go to nurses who offer respite to the relatives of terminally ill cancer victims, allowing those patients to die in their homes surrounded by their families.
This programme provided more than 5,700 nights of care for more than 1,600 patients across the State last year.
ILIM chief executive Gerry Keenan was 100 per cent behind this project, according to swimmer David Jones (39). This landed on his desk from Glenn and he was asked if he could support it.
“He felt that given the economic climate and all the turmoil and uncertainty around, this was a great way to focus on something positive for a change. There has been a buzz around about it ever since.”
Initially, 23 people volunteered, but some dropped out. Luckily for those volunteering, Irish Life has a 20-metre pool for its employees.
Catherine Fox, a lifeguard at the pool and a former competitive swimmer, helped many of the volunteers with their swimming technique.
“A few of them couldn’t do two lengths in one go, now they are doing 150 lengths easily, that’s three kilometres. Some had never been further than paddling in the sea on holidays. It is amazing what can be achieved when you put your mind to do something,” she says.
Eighteen members of the project elected to do intensive classes aimed at completely overhauling their swimming technique. Each swimmer will do an hour in the water. They do not have the option of stopping at any stage as it cannot then be classed as a channel swim. Each hopes to swim about 3km at a time, no mean feat in cold waters with strong tides.
Following a rest, they will then embark on another hour-long swim. Each swimmer will have a minimum of three and a maximum of four swims each.
Despite their best preparations, they are at the mercy of the elements in a stretch of sea which is notorious for confounding the best-laid plans.
Swimmer David Jones (39) says: “You’ve got the cold water, you’ve got the changing sea conditions. The English Channel is unforgiving in terms of conditions. Tides and weather can change. There is also a problem with sea sickness. It’s like the silent killer for a relay team. It is better to be in the water than in the boat. The pilot will have the ultimate decision if he wants to pull the plug on the project,” says Jones.
Hernon says those taking part had been surprised by what they could achieve. “I remember the day in January of feeling like a complete success when I completed 15 laps of a 20-metre pool, but all of a sudden that went from 100 to 200,” she says.
The commitment is ferocious. There is an average of nine hours of swimming per week, plus the time it takes getting to and from the sea where they have been training recently.
It involves two or three one-hour sessions in the pool for fitness, two mid-week swims in the sea for an hour and weekend simulations of the relay event.
“You find that your life revolves around it,” says Hernon. “Some of my friends have been complaining that they have not seen me. It is a big commitment, but I believe in the end it will be worth it to be able to say that you have swum the English Channel.”
- www.iasc-swim.com