Cork woman becomes oldest person to complete sub-16-hour swim across California’s Catalina Channel 

A Boston-based Cork woman has become the oldest person to successfully cross California’s Catalina Channel in a sub-16-hour swim, raising funds for the Irish Kidney Association (IKA).

Maura Twomey from Blarney, who is 70, decided to take on the challenge after her brother, Martin Twomey, underwent a kidney transplant at Cork University Hospital (CUH) in June.

While earning the title as the oldest person to complete the challenge, the former primary school teacher also achieved the ‘Triple Crown’ of open water swimming, having previously completed the English Channel and the 20 Bridges Swim.

Ms Twomey told The Echo that while she is a seasoned open water swimmer, completing the Catalina Channel was “pretty challenging”.

“I started training for this when my brother was on dialysis,” said Ms Twomey.

“When I swam the English Channel in 2015, I raised funds for CUH’s children’s cystic fibrosis waiting room, so this time, I said I’d definitely do it for the IKA.

“We cannot say enough for the joy they have brought us, there’s not enough words to describe when you see your brother get a whole new lease on life.

“When he got the call for the transplant, we were overjoyed. Several of us family members had offered to be a live donor, but he wouldn’t take it.

“The swim was pretty challenging, we started off windy. The kayaks were having trouble keeping a straight line and the boat was bouncing, but the end is what was brutal,” she said.

I’ve trained in bumpy water, because you never know what you’re going to get on the day, but the finish, I didn’t realise that we had been blown down the coast so much so we missed the beach and had to make it to rocks to finish — the last half mile took well over an hour.

Ms Twomey said thinking of each of her extended family members “became a tool” to help her cross the water, and encouraged her on her final stretch of scaling the finish-line rocks, which ultimately left her with a skinned knee.

“Seeing the shore was an incredible feeling, and after nearly 16 hours in the water, I think the skinned knee was the easiest part of the whole challenge,” said Ms Twomey.

“Thinking about my family passed several hours for me, that became a tool. I would go into who they are in my head and how glad I am to have them.”

Speaking on her new title, Ms Twomey said: “You never know who else is out there swimming, so I had no idea that I was the oldest person to do it. That was a surprise to me, but just to successfully complete it made me tremendously happy.”

To make a donation to her IKA fundraiser see the iDonate page here.