Hardship Award

The Hardship Award, a beat-up hardhat with the winner’s name, goes to the swimmer who suffers the most in completing a swim.

2025 Celine McInerney – she took an elbow to the head at corner 1, suffered a concussion and came back stronger than ever, swimming.

2024 Eoin Lowry – for his LONG swim across the English Channel – with a very ugly last 4 hours.

2023 Karen O’Sullivan – for her Around Cobh swim, with nice weather to start and horrific towards the end.

2022 Adrian Healy – for his Maharees swim despite having the biggest cut on his leg in the history of long distance swimming ever, requiring a fleet of Readymix trucks to fill in the damaged tissue, together with his absolute indignation at not winning GTFUpperOTW despite his several (9 or 10) epic morning trips from Mallow to Sandycove over the course of the Summer.

2021 Ned Denison – during challenging condition, Ned headed through the “vee gap” with Owen O’Keefe outside the vee on his right.  A wave took Owen up and over – the slamming down and into Ned.   Ned was moved onto the “scratchy” rocks on his left – and Owen was fully protected by Ned the “boat fender/bumper”.

2016 Brendan O’Brien – read about his Galway Bay experience:  https://sandycovewebbook.wordpress.com/galway-bay/

2015 Eilis Burns (wetsuit) – Formigues Illes to Medea Spain (22.3 km): In relentless conditions, current against her, she never gave up but battled away to win. Very few, and none of the English Channel solers from Ireland, completed the swim.

2014 Nora Irwin – 12.5 miles around Key West in unbelievably hot sun, air and water conditions. Nothing in the Cork training prepares anyone for 7 hours and 20 minutes of that suffering. It was likened to being a roast kept too long in the oven. How tough were the conditions? None of the Cork swimmers partied that night following the swim…

2013 Ned Denison – some of the younger swimmers “stole a few medals off him” (beating him in races) causing him indescribable pain and anguish.

2013 Robert Bohane – completed the English Channel solo swim – shattering the local “senior record” (i.e. not Owen O’Keefe) – after two tough previous attempts.

2011 Liam Maher – swimming in the Sandycove Island Challenge he landed three times hard on corner 2 – and scraped along (belly, back and feet) and Finbarr Hedderman then landed a big elbow on his head after that > 45 minutes in ambulance…loss of blood…25 plasters…and no sympathy from his mates.

2010 Donal Buckley – twice run over by his English Channel boat > bow to stern.