North Atlantic Skyline » swimmer

Swimmer in Salthill

John Smyth — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:28:11 +0000

This picture was taken on the same morning as this one and this one – it was absolutely freezing, but the temperature did not deter this swimmer.

Ice cold

John Smyth — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:25:01 +0000

Even on the coldest morning of the year so far, hardy souls walked across the frost and snow from the changing rooms to the diving board on Salthill Promenade, and then into the water. This picture was taken last Saturday morning, as the fog was burning off the water (which is why you cannot see the Clare hills beyond the diving board).

Almost there

John Smyth — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:34:58 +0000

A swimmer passing a marker in Galway Bay in the late evening, a couple of months ago.

Splashdown

John Smyth — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:44:20 +0000

The consequences of the severe weather continue to unfold – areas to the north, south and east of Galway City are still severly flooded, with residents and commuters suffering hardship. Over the weekend, the fear that the combination of storm force winds and heavy rain would cause flooding in the city turned out to be unfounded – even at high tide, the water did not reach near the edge of the quay wall at the Spanish Arch.
The sea in Galway Bay was, however, still wild. I was down on the Promenade more than two hours after high tide on Saturday morning and the spray of waves frequently swept over the diving board. While I was there, a lady arrived, changed into a wetsuit and made her way to the end of the diving board before entering the water for a swim.She had to dodge a few waves on her way down – the picture above shows her bracing as a wave swept over her. As I was leaving, another man arrived to go swimming too.
I’ve uploaded a short gallery onto Flickr of pictures that I took while at the diving board. They were all taken with a wideangle lens, so it won’t be a surprise to learn that I got an eyeful or two of spray while taking them.