Roscommon man to swim Ireland's longest river
Paul Little in training before he takes on the challenge of swimming 230kms of the Shannon.
Local man Paul Little is embarking on the challenge of a lifetime as he begins to swim the 230 km length of the Shannon this Sunday.
Paul who is from Cavetown, just outside Croghan, has decided to swim Ireland’s longest river in aid of North West STOP, a cause which he strongly admires and is a valuable service to people in the north west in providing counselling for suicide prevention.
Just over two years ago Paul came up with the plan to undertake tis massive fundraiser having been an avid fitness fan, an experienced tri-athlete and perhaps also prompted by the fact he and his wife Hazel lived on a boat at Tara Marina for five years.
The 32-year-old father of five month old Conan has been busy training for the last 15 months but the past 12 weeks have seen him ramp up his programme swimming an average of 20 kms per day and on occasion increasing that to 26 kms. He has been training in open water and swam all though the winter months in preparation for the Shannon swim.
The challenge is not for the faint hearted as Paul will be swimming an average of 30kms a day after starting from the Bridge in Dowra and making his way down to Limerick in the company of a support crew.
The eight day event will see him swim from Dowra to Battlebridge; Battlebridge to Rooskey; Rooskey to Lanesborough; Lanesborough to Athlone; Athlone to Banagher; Banagher to Kilgarvan Quay; Kilgarvan Quay to Killaloe and from Killaloe to his final destination at Curragower Boat Club in Limerick City.
Paul is part of the Lough Key Swim Club, Lough Tri Club and Carrick on Shannon Rowing Club. In fact he met his wife originally at the rowing club and later climbed Kilimanjaro for their honeymoon.
Paul will take to the water on Sunday, August 10th at 7am and hopes to be celebrating his latest achievement on Sunday, August 17th in Limerick.
Anyone wishing to support him can do so by clicking here.
North West STOP is a community-based, voluntary charity founded in 2004 by families who had lost loved ones to suicide. Their primary aim is to prevent suicide by providing accessible, free, confidential counselling services.
