13-year-old Brian primed to swim 100th lap around Sandycove Island

A milestone for many, but few so young, 13-year-old swimmer Brian Foster will be completing his 100th lap around Sandycove Island, located just beyond Kinsale town, this Sunday, October 3.

A rite of passage for Cork swimmers, the 1.6km lap is one of the most popular places for water enthusiasts to enjoy the sea in the Rebel County.

The youngster will be completing the swim ‘in skins,’ a common term used to describe swimming in togs, as opposed to in a wetsuit.

Over the past nine months, the 13-year-old has clocked up over 80 laps and on Sunday he hopes to hit 100 circumnavigations of the island, an achievement celebrated locally among the Sandycove Island swimmers, through a ceremonial presentation of a special ‘Sandycove Island Swimmer 100 laps’ swim cap by the community chief, Ned Denison.

Ned, who is an accomplished marathon swimmer, runs the local Open Water swim club, ensuring the veracity of claims from dedicated lappers looking for one of the illustrious swim caps.

The young teen completed his first lap of the island in April 2019 at the age of 11 and managed another six laps the following year, but it was the onset of the global pandemic that led him to channel his energy into swimming.

“Covid was definitely the catalyst for me,” Brian told The Echo.

“Conventional sports were not an option during lockdown.”

Lucky enough to be living close to the coveted swim spot, Brian turned his attention to lapping the island, something swimmers come far and wide to complete in normal times.

“I started swimming at around four or five months old in the pool, well before I could walk. From about one year on, we would swim five days a week, not seriously, just learning to enjoy the water, as there was no point in learning how to swim if there was no enjoyment to begin with,” Brian explained.

“I started seriously swimming all year round in the open water (no wetsuit, no exceptions) when I was 10.”

Brian often swims around the island with his father Stephen, who is also a marathon swimmer who has completed the Gibraltar Strait swim (16.8km).

Brian said some days he does one lap of the island, while other days he might complete a double (3km) or sometimes even three laps (4.4km).

The young swimmer said there are a number of elements he enjoys about swimming.

“I love the challenge, the sense of achievement when you get out of the water, and the beauty of the water itself.”

While Brian is looking forward to marking 100 laps of the island, he said he sees the achievement as a stepping stone towards bigger goals.

“I would love to complete an official marathon swim (10km+), I would love to swim the English Channel (33km) and other epic swims. Another goal I have in mind is to swim an Ice Mile (1 mile in 5*C water or less) but all these challenges are yet to come.”

For now, the Kinsale Community School student is content to continue swimming with his dad at Sandycove and training in the pool under the coaching of esteemed marathon swimmer Eilis Burns.