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Displaying items by tag: Liffey Swim Race

#liffeyswim– The River Liffey glistened today as 335 men and women of all ages took to the water for the 94th Dublin City Liffey Swim, supported by Dublin City Council and staged by The Open Sea Committee.
219 men battled it out in the men's race that kicked off at 12.30pm at the Loop Line Bridge. Ciaran O'Driscoll from Half Moon Swimming Club in Great South Wall in Dublin won the men's race with an impressive time of 26.16 minutes. The women's race followed an hour later when 116 women took to Ireland's most famous river for their chance to swim competitively through the heart of Dublin city. Gina Murphy from Glenalbyn Masters in Stillorgan, Co Dublin crossed the winning line at the East Link Toll Bridge after only 32.22 minutes.
A special presentation with the Lord Mayor took place on the Cill Airne at 3.15pm when the winners were awarded their winners cups as well as a print of the historic 1923 Jack B Yeats painting titled "The Liffey Swim."
Speaking about the historic race, the Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn commented, "The Dublin City Liffey Swim has been growing in attendance year on year which illustrates just how important the legacy of the race is after 94 years. I would like to congratulate Ciaran and Gina as they have their names added to the historical list of Dublin City Liffey Swim winners. This year Dublin City Council is delighted to be in a position to provide additional support to this fantastic sporting event with the introduction of the first Liffey Living Festival and we hope that everyone that has attended the swim and festival has enjoyed an exhilarating free family day out."
The infectious atmosphere of the swim was carried on in "The Liffey Living Festival" presented by Dublin City Council in Grand Canal Dock where they were treated to an evening of free family activities such as giant sized street games, a live band "The Ships", ambient DJ and a specially erected floating open-air cinema, showing the classic movie "The Swimmer"!

Published in Sea Swim

The 90th annual Dublin Liffey Swim sponsored by Dublin City Council took place today, Saturday 11th September 2010. The swim, a 2.2kilometre race, started at Watling Street Bridge and finished at the Customs House. The swimmers were each assigned a time handicap depending on their level of proficiency.

Dublin City Council's 90th Liffey Swim Race 11th September 2010 - Men's & Women's Results

Men's Event – 13.30hrs Start

Winner - Brian O'Dwyer, Guinness Club (no handicap).

Second place - Terry Joyce, Eastern Bay Club (no handicap).

Third place - Vinnie Nicoletti, Guinness Club (no handicap).

Women's Event – 14.15hrs Start

Winner - Deirdre Dunne, St. Vincents Club (handicap 45 seconds).

Second place - Maeve Dunne (no handicap).

Third place - Susan Ritchie, Tallaght Masters Club (no handicap).

Published in Sea Swim

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

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