Rian Herlihy, a 16 year old Transition Year student at Ashton School, Blackrock Road, is bravely going where few have ever gone before. She is  attempting to swim the Straits of Gibraltar, a distance of 16-22kms from Spain to Africa in approximately 4 hours, depending on currents, to raise funds for Barnardo’s.

Whilst most of us are tucked up in bed every morning,  Rian is in  Sunday’s Well swimming pool by 5.50am several mornings a week, and in the sea on alternative mornings, to enhance her fitness levels.  She is doing this swim without a wetsuit, one of the youngest in the country to attempt such a feat.

Rian has been swimming competitively with Sunday’s Well Swimming Club, and in Physical Education class at Ashton over a few years, having been inspired by her uncle, Diarmuid Herlihy, now her coach.  She is also a qualified assistant swimming teacher.

Preparation started in summer of 2013, with an unplanned break in training for two months as Rian had to have her appendix out, but this did not slow down her resolve, and steely determination.  She returned to the pool resilient and focused, with a fundraising program fully in place.  Many would consider doing the swim as ‘epic’, Rian is doing the double, attempting the swim, and simultaneously raising money for Barnardo’s, which supports young people, many of whom are similar in age to Rian.  Altruism, at its best.  http://www.barnardos.ie/getting-involved/fundraising/events/sponsorship/sponsor-a-participant/event/participant.html?participant=3486

We wish her luck as she confronts not only the water, jellyfish, dolphins, but also the winds, currents, and the marine traffic on this busy shipping lane between Spain and Africa.  Her courage is commendable, her determination exemplary in one so young.

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