#IrelandSwim - The main challenges confronting two swimmers who aim to become the first to circumnavigate the entire island of Ireland this summer will be stormy seas, rough weather and stinging jellyfish, writes The Irish Times.

David Burns from Coleraine and Maghnus Collins from Limerick are seasoned adventurers having kayaked the Yangtze river, ran across the Sahara desert and cycled from Cape Town to Ireland in recent years.

The pair set off from Coliemore Harbour in Dalkey earlier on Wednesday for the first 20km stretch of a gruelling itinerary which will see them swim 1,600km clockwise around the south coast, up the west and past the north before finishing back in Dublin in around four months' time.

Despite their significant endurance tests of recent years, they are of the firm belief that this latest task will provide the greatest obstacle so far.

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