World champion Jane Jolly brings another medal home, as Cork Masters swimming Club continue to punch above their weight

While the majority of us this summer were aware of drought conditions across Europe with varying degress of vague interest, Jane Jolly has a much more visceral reason for being concerned about the depleted water levels. 

In August, the 72 year old swimmer was racing through pondweeds in a canal off the Danube, with the water so low that the bottom was never far away and she had to repeatedly wrestle with the tangle of vegetation and sludge beneath her.

It was hardly the clean, clear sea that she prefers for her competitive open-water swimming.

But then, as Jolly says, that is what open water is about.

It can be a lake, a river or the sea, and everyone in the race has to deal with the same conditions in front of them.

For the Cork Masters swimmer, the conditions in Šamorín, Slovakia, were simply another obstacle to overcome as she claimed bronze in the 3km open-water event at the European Aquatics Masters Championships.

Jolly came through halfway in fifth place but worked her way through the field to finish third in 57 minutes and 48.23 seconds.

There was no thought of the podium halfway through.

She was tired but she knew she simply had to keep pushing to the end.

“It was a great achievement,” she says. ' I had to fight back."

That determination has become a defining feature of Jolly’s swimming career, one that stretches back decades and has taken her from a world record breaking gold medal at the inaugural World Masters in Toronto in 1985 to world and European titles in her seventies.

Her latest bronze adds to a remarkable list of achievements.

She won silver in the 50m freestyle at the European Masters in 1991 and gold in the 100m freestyle at the World Masters in Brisbane in 1994 after which she transitioned to long distance. 

In 2016 a serious injury almost derailed her competitive career but Jane's tenacity of spirit saw her return to the water stronger than ever and she won silver in the 3km open water at the World Masters in South Korea in 2019, followed with bronze over the same distance at the European Championships in Rome in 2022.

Then came a remarkable 2024.

Jolly won the 3km open water at the World Masters in Doha, along with bronze medals in the 400m and 800m freestyle in the pool. A few months later she became a double European champion in Belgrade, winning both the 1.5km and 3km open-water events.

She followed that with another World Masters gold in the 3km in Singapore in 2025.

For Jolly, though, the medals are only part of the story.

She has always loved the water and believes swimming has given her something that goes well beyond competition.

“It’s everything,” she says of its benefits. 

“It works every muscle including the mind.” 

Swimming is non-weight-bearing, she points out, and can be maintained throughout life, but for Jolly the positive contribution it makes to her mental health is priceless. 

The competitive side matters too, but so do the routine, the friendships and the simple feeling of being better after a training session than before it.

There are four coached sessions a week with Cork Masters, with open-water swimmers adding their own preparation when required.

And as Jolly gets older, recovery has become as important as training.

“You have to be fit and healthy to begin with and, as you get older, it gets tougher. But then it gets tougher for everybody.” 

Cork Masters chairman Gavin O’Brien knows only too well what it takes to produce international-level swimmers in Cork.

The club has around 80 members at present, with a mixture of competitive pool swimmers and open-water athletes. 

Members compete at national and international level, with a strong representation across different age groups. 

Notable recent medal winners include Paul Laffan who secured the Gold medal in the 100m freestyle at the 2024 World championships in Doha and more recently the Silver medal in the 50m butterfly in the 30-34 age category at the 2026 European Masters.

Cork Masters also sent a team to the highly competitive British Masters Championship in Scotland in June, where Christopher Kelly secured gold in the 200m breaststroke and Silver in the 100m breaststroke, Scott Kelly claimed silver in the 50m and 100m butterfly events while Jerry O'Riordan also took a silver in the 50m breaststroke.

But training in Cork presents its own challenges.

The city has no 50-metre municipal pool, meaning swimmers preparing for long-course international competitions have to travel to Limerick to get access to the nearest 50m facility.

For a club training four times a week, twice in Gus Healy and twice in LeisureWorld Bishopstown, that creates an additional commitment for swimmers who are already balancing full-time jobs and family life.

Yet O’Brien believes the club punches well above its weight.

“We’re very competitive,” he says. 

“Our members are very dedicated.” 

And there is new energy coming through the club.

Sarah Louise McSweeney has been involved with Cork Masters for more than 20 years and has seen a younger group of swimmers breathe new life into the club.

Many are returning to swimming after having competed when they were younger, while others have taken up competitive swimming later in life.

The result is a club with a broad spread of ages, from swimmers in their twenties and thirties through the 40s, 50s and beyond.

For McSweeney, that community is as important as the medals.

“There’s something lovely about that moment of submersion,” she says.

Swimming provides an escape from phones, work and the constant demands of everyday life, while still offering the camaraderie of training alongside others.

That combination is evident in Jolly’s own approach.

Masters swimming begins at 25 and is divided into five-year age categories. 

Jolly is now in the 70-74 group, where she continues to line up against swimmers she has met repeatedly over the years, while also watching younger competitors come through.

Her next target is already in sight: the 2027 World Masters Championships in Budapest.

There will be more training, more preparation and, inevitably, more hard sessions when getting into the pool is the last thing she feels like doing.

But in she will dive in regardless, because, after more than 60 years in the water there is no end in sight to Jolly's competitive spirit.

"It gets tougher as you move up in the age category but I'll do what I can, I'll train hard and do my best. 

"They will have to take the title from me, I won't be handing it over."