#Kayaking - Twenty-three days is the new record for solo kayaking around the island of Ireland, set by Waterford man Mick O'Meara earlier this month.
It's probably the biggest of a series of round-Ireland feats completed this summer – with Wexford teacher Susan Honan celebrating her own circumnavigation with friend Sonja Ewen, John Hynes and Sean Cahill ending their kayaking adventure last week, and just yesterday brothers Nathaniel and Fergus Ogden completing their own circuit of the island by Drascombe Lugger.
O'Meara's achievement, however, is all the more remarkable in that he only had himself to rely on - with no support crew on land to provide a helping hand.
“In my opinion this is what makes it a true expedition,” he tells Emma Decker of Outsider magazine, going on to describe the "sense of freedom and a sense of closeness to the water" he experiences while out in his kayak.
As tranquil as that sounds, though, it wasn't all plain paddling for this very experienced kayaker - a seven time former Liffey Descent champion, no less - as blinding mist and fog, and threatening swells, especially crossing the mouth of the Shannon, seriously tested O'Meara's mettle.
Outsider has much more on the story HERE.
