Over 100 swimmers from a Dublin club will take to the water for 24 hours in aid of Pieta House this Christmas week.
The ESB Swimming Club are running the charity swim which will take place in Sportsco on South Lotts Road in Ringsend from midday on December 23 until midday on Christmas Eve. Speaking to Dublin Live, the club's head coach Rory McGlynn said that coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were several tragic events in the swimming community, and they want young athletes to talk and open up about their mental health.
He explained that the 24-hour swim is going to be "broken up into hour-long slots" and that swimmers will try to swim the longest distance possible within the timeframe. Rory said: "There's 117 swimmers on the roster, and we have swimmers from the age of 10 up.
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"We have some of our youngest guys who haven't even done their first competition yet, right up to a number of master swimmers who have actually swam the English Channel before. We also have a current Olympian and former Olympian joining us as well.
"Coming out of Covid a couple of athletes sadly took their lives within the swimming community who would've been friends with some of our athletes within the club and other clubs around Dublin.
"We've also seen an increase in self-harming within teenagers who don't feel they have that outlet to express themselves, or don't know of the support that they have coming out of the Covid period where that was lacking over those two years while we were all remote. So as head coach I guided the swimmers to select Pieta House as the most appropriate charity."
Rory described how there is a "real buzz" around Ringsend over the charity swim, with the community also getting on board to support the swimmers. He said: "Everybody's been very much on board and there's a real buzz around it now, not just within our swimming club and the competitive swimming community, but around Ringsend and around Dublin.
"I've had people stopping me all around the Ringsend area just to have a chat about it."
Rory said that the club is trying to raise awareness about the charity swim to get as many donations as possible and to provide as much support for Pieta House for "all the great work they do". Rory explained that they also want to have created a "framework of positive messaging" within their own swimming club for young swimmers to help them understand what they can do when they start to feel negative thoughts.
He said: "Even before they get to anything as extreme as self-harm or to the end of that spectrum, that they feel there are outlets, there are people you can talk to, there is support around them/ Whether it's as simple as having a sit down conversation with a more senior member of the club or with a coach, or if it needs to go that little bit further, there are supports available.
"There is so much support and help for young people that they don't feel they need to deal with these kind issues alone. That's kind of the main point out of it."
You can donate to the GoFundMe page for the fundraising swim here
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