Corkman to attempt 35 hour channel swim

At around 10pm tonight Corkman Steve Redmond will head out for a swim...across the channel!

Leaving from Carne Beach in Wexford he will attempt the gruelling task of swimming 80km to Wales in aid of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), who provide 24 hour rescue services to the UK and Ireland.

Over 35 hours he will battle strong currents, swarms of jellyfish, sea traffic as well as mental and physical fatigue.

If Mr Redmond makes it to Whitesands beach in Pembrokshire on Friday he will be the first person to complete swim, which is thought to be one of the world’s toughest.

In July Mr Redmond became the only person ever to complete the Oceans Seven Challenge.

This involved swimming the English channel, the North channel (Northern Ireland and Scotland), the Gibraltar straits, the Catalina channel in California, the Cook strait in New Zealand, the Molokai channel in Hawaii and the Tsugaru channel in Japan.

Mr Redmond is hoping to raise €2,500 online, via his mycharity.ie page, in addition to the donations made directly to the RNLI.