Cork woman's 169km marathon swim in memory of her friend

A Midleton woman has turned a tragedy into a positive, by swimming 169km in 56 days to raise money for Mallow Search and Rescue.

Kate Colbert Daly completed the task last week in memory of her childhood friend Cormac Ryan, who tragically lost his life in the River Lee in 2020. His body was recovered by Mallow Search and Rescue (MSAR) four days after going missing.

Cormac, a popular rugby player with Midleton RFC, was a larger than life character, described by his friends as “a true gent” and “a big, happy, full-of-life guy”.

Kate explained: “When Cormac was reported missing, all his family and friends helped with the search. At a time like that you can’t eat, sleep or sometimes even breathe.”

“I remember being at the side of the river when one of the volunteers from MSAR arrived to help with the search. He started joking that he was in the dog house as he had cancelled his Valentine’s meal with his wife to help in the search. It was good to laugh at such a dark time.”

Kate recalled being struck by the selflessness of the volunteers and how they put the search for missing persons first before anything they have going on in their lives.

She also remembered one of the evenings when the light was drawing in and she knew the search for the evening was drawing to a close.

One of the volunteers from MSAR reassured Kate by telling her: “We won’t stop looking until we find him.”

She recalled: “I was completely bowled over and amazed by what they do and I was determined to help them in some way if possible.”

Kate, who only took up swimming in June, 2025, decided to do a swim challenge in aid of Mallow Search and Rescue.

She admitted that she did not believe she was a good swimmer but gained confidence to complete the challenge after her brother James gave her a gift of a swimming lesson for her birthday.

She chose the distance of 169km as this is the length of the River Blackwater which runs near where Mallow Search and Rescue have their base.

Her marathon challenge involved doing 120 laps of Garryvoe Hotel and Health Club’s swimming pool for 56 days straight.

“The only day I took off was Christmas Day,” added Kate.

The services and expertise of Mallow Search and Rescue are required consistently. They were involved in a multi-agency search on the River Lee over Christmas for a young man from Co. Tyrone, alongside the gardaí, Crosshaven Coast Guard, Guileen Coast Guard, Cork Missing Persons Search and Recovery, the fire brigade and ambulance services as well as Cork and Blackwater search and recovery teams.

The remains of Shea McCabe – a father of one in his 20s - were recovered on St Stephen’s Day. His family have described the death as a “freak accident”.

John Wolfe, the chairperson of MSAR, said of the search: “Alongside the other agencies involved, we had a boat on the river every day for nine days.

“We use a side-scan sonar and remote operating vehicles (ROV) to help with our searches.

“The side-scan sonar shows up anomalies on the river bed and we then investigate these with either the ROV or by putting divers down.

“We recovered Mr McCabe on St Stephen’s Day with the help of our side-scan sonar and then our divers recovered his body.

“This gives a huge sense of release and closure to the families of the missing persons.”

Mr Wolfe, who was one of the founding members of the unit, which began in 1983, emphasised that it was important that they constantly update their equipment and training in order to carry out the search and rescue service successfully, hence the need for vital funds.

“The side-scan sonar is a fabulous piece of equipment that really helps us search areas thoroughly,” he said.

“Its use has resulted in bringing many missing persons back home to their families.

“This was donated by the family of Brian Ó Tuama, who tragically drowned in 2009.”

John went on to explain that they are not state funded “and we never ask anyone for money”.

He added: “Our volunteers are just that, volunteers. So we rely heavily on the public fundraising.

“The day to day cost of searching is €200-€300. So we are very grateful to people such as Kate who take time to support our work in the community.”

Asked how she felt after completing the swim challenge, Kate said: “It was bittersweet. My body and mind are exhausted and in need of a break, but the daily swims and countless laps brought me a little closer to Cormac.

“Being in the pool each day felt like a way of keeping his name and MSAR at the centre of people’s conversations.

“I’m looking forward to taking a short rest over the next few days. I’ll be back in the pool soon, just not for an hour and a half at a time!”

Volunteers from Mallow Search and Rescue swam the last few laps of the challenge with Kate. She was applauded over the finish line by her husband Paul, her sons Harry and Billy, her brother James Colbert, and his son JJ, her friends Michelle O’Brien and Emily Mangan, as well as Cormac’s parents, Rose and Brendan Ryan.

Kate’s original target was to raise €50,00 for MSAR. It has currently exceeded her expectations at over €6,000 and is expected to rise.

All donations can be made via GoFundMe here.