Cork swimmer: ‘I think I will always be drawn to the sea’

Swimmer, Laura Nagle Kiwanuka, Spanish secondary school teacher

My father’s first job was as a lifeguard, so growing up in Montenottee my five siblings and I enjoyed summers swimming at the beach and weekly swimming together, so it’s no surprise that I have always delighted in swimming in the sea. I found the opportunity to make it a regular routine about nine years ago when we moved to Myrtleville. My grandmother had lived in the area and was a brave, free-spirited lady who enjoyed her dips in the sea even to her last day. I have many happy memories on Myrtleville beach and before that on beaches near Skibbereen, dipping in the sea and watching my grandmother rub seaweed on her body before getting out of the water. She was ahead of her time.

Currently, I manage to get in the sea about five days a week: before work a couple of days early at sunrise and then most weekends. 

I adore swimming in Myrtleville and the many remarkable people who swim there are of all abilities.

Each person is breaking through their own barriers, and we celebrate all these wins.

Myrtleville Swimmers is not a club, but there certainly is an extraordinary bond among the swimmers down there and everybody who goes down there is part of the fabric of the place.

I revel in swimming throughout the seasons and in all weather. I know it’s a bit extreme in the winter, but it’s almost a challenge I relish even more.

As temperatures increase in the spring, I look forward to swimming to our nearby beach of Fountainstown and if I feel energetic on a day I might go over and back – a 4km swim – adding on swimming to some buoys to make it above 5km, which is my maximum distance. But it is not the distance that matters to me.

 What I truly savour is the experience of swimming with others. I appreciate seeing others in the water and feel there is a kind of elegance and interest inherent in each person’s method of moving through the water.

There is an undeniable trust among those you swim with as you learn to check in on each other.

I’ve had the benefit of working on my stroke and my manner of moving through the water over the last few years, attending some swim classes with a few swimmers with the incredible coaches Dave O’Mahony and Eilis Burns. This has only enhanced my experience of swimming in the sea by increasing my comfort in all kinds of conditions.

I take boundless joy in surfing through the waves and balancing in the water. 

I have entered a few swim events, however, it’s often the daily swims I enjoy in Myrtleville that can be just as memorable.

Each sea swim is different, which is why there is always great camaraderie and fun in chatting about everybody’s experiences in the water after swims.

I think I will always be drawn to being by the sea. Any time I spend in a location far from the sea, I find myself yearning to get back to it. I know I have other things I enjoy in my life, too, but the sea is my constant.

My own four teenage children enjoy dips with their friends in the summer or together on family holidays, and my husband swims most days with our dog circling him, who also fortunately loves the sea!

Entering the sea for me feels like returning to a place of play. Sometimes I feel like I am dancing through the water. It is a joyful connection.

It stems from my father’s consistent encouragement of all our swimming and the way it was something fun and adventurous, whether it was diving in, holding our breath for as long as we could and just spending time in the water, or seeing what was in the water beneath.

The focus wasn’t on competition. It was always just pure joy. Now, as an adult, I have kept that light-hearted warm feeling with the sea. Despite the fact that at times the conditions are severe for me, I am still drawn to immerse myself in the sea and relish moving through the waves with abandon. I, along with all who swim, feel hugely grateful to have nature’s natural reset. The sea humbles us and reminds us that there are far vaster things than ourselves.