Cork woman completed Triple Crown of open-water swims after crossing the Channel

Cork woman and open water swimmer Carol Cashell successfully completed her swim across the English Channel this weekend in aid of The Alzheimer Society of Ireland.

Ms Cashell from Carrigtwohill, undertook two marathon open water swims this summer in aid of the charity; as well as the English Channel, she swam the challenging Catalina Channel in Los Angeles six weeks ago.

“Nearly every family in Ireland has some connection with Alzheimer's,” Ms Cashell said, adding that both sides of her family are dealing with the illness.

Her campaign has raised more than €2,500 for the charity so far.

Beginning her swim at night on Saturday morning, Ms Cashell spent more than 10 hours in the water swimming the Channel.

“It was challenging. I started off my swim at 2.30am so I had a couple of hours of swimming in the dark and conditions are always a little more awkward,” she told the Evening Echo.

“But the temperatures were ok and I settled into a rhythm. Once daylight came, conditions were what we would describe as sloppy. Once the sun came up it was nice to see a little. A bit of daylight makes a big difference,” she said.

She was accompanied by her friends and fellow Sandycove Island swimmers Rob Bohane, Angela Harris and Trevor Malone.

Ms Cashell has now earned the “triple crown” of open water swims as she has successfully completed the Catalina, the English Channel and the Manhattan Island marathon swim in New York.

She is the second Irish female swimmer to earn the accolade and the fifth Irish person overall to earn a triple crown.

Ms Cashell says she has a few local shorter swims planned for the coming months but doesn’t want to commit to a longer challenge straight away.

“For these swims, I was training up to 20 hours a week and it’s a huge commitment when you are trying to fit that in around a nine to five job as well as everything else! In the short-term, I’ll be focusing on local swims and next year I have my eye on a few!”

Support Carol on the fundraising page at: https://www.altruism.ie/fundraising_page/carol-cashell-fundraising-page-for-alzheimer-society-of-ireland