On the same day as the round Cumbrae kayak race on 10 September, Gerry Malone was in Ireland competing in the Sandycove Island Challenge swim event near Kinsale. This is an annual event that regularly has an entry list of over 300 swimmers and which Gerry – and sometimes, Colin Campbell – have been attending for the past fifteen years. It’s now also getting back onto the calendar, but regrettably this year it clashed with the kayak event at Cumbrae.
Gerry did the 1800m swim in fairly choppy conditions and, although suffering from a severe bout of man-cold, completed his non-wetsuit swim in 33 mins, finishing 89th out of an overall 229 swimmers. It’s a fabulous and very scenic swim, leaving from Sandycove slipway and heading into the open sea and circumnavigating Sandycove Island – a haven for feral goats!
It is also worth noting that Gerry is this year’s Scottish Amateur Swimming Association West District 4km Open Water champion, having won gold at Loch Vennachar in August with a time of 1 hr 4 mins 49 secs. He is also this year’s over 50 Scottish 5km silver medallist with a time of 1 hr 23 mins at the Scottish Championships which were held in July at Loch Monikie Country Park in Dundee. Gerry is up for an open water swim most times when he’s not out in his kayak.
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