Christmas Swim Dublin 15

broders3

Hi,

First time poster on the swimming forum so go easy on me. I live in Castleknock and this will be my first Christmas not down in the homestead in the West. Every year I do the Christmas day swim and I am looking for options in Dublin 15. I would like to go to the fortyfoot but it takes a good 30 minutes each way plus the swim time so leaving the house for 2 hours Christmas morning won't work. Are there any locations in Dublin West that do an organized/disorganized Christmas swim?

Are there any safe spots to hop in the liffey in Chapelizod maybe?

All options/advice considered.

Freddio

I wouldn't go swimming in the Liffey on Christmas morning on my own at some random spot upstream. You would have the following on the list of your concerns

1) Getting washed down and rammed into a weir
2) Weils disease
3) Hypothermia from being unable to get out
4) typhoid, colera, ecoli etc
5) the emergency services staffed on a skeleton crew
6) If you get on the Christmas news bulletin, it wont be for the right reasons

broders3

Equal parts informative and condescending. Thanks

Freddio

I wasn't being condescending, it would be an increadably risky thing to do unsupervised.

Killgore Trout

I didn't get the impression the OP wanted to go swimming alone at some random spot. They asked if any groups do swim on the Liffey, and if so where (part of the craic of Christmas Day swims is the fact that others are there?)

OP, I'm not aware of any groups doing a Christmas day swim on the Liffey. Considering there been Triathlon swim stages held in that area of the Liffey in recent years suggest it is possible to have a swim without "Getting washed down and rammed into a weir". There are also dangerous sections.

Wiel's disease is a general hazard of OW swimming (or anywhere outdoors where rats can take a pee) and not exclusively limited to the Liffey. Hundreds swim in they Liffey every year without getting it.

That said the Upper Liffey swim was an annual race on the Leinster OW calendar at one stage - it was discontinued due to poor water quality.

Hypothermia - always a concern with Christmas day swims anywhere, in Ireland anyway.

Maybe e-coli, but typhoid and cholera - Really?

As some who endures some winter immersion and has swam on the river multiple times I wouldn't fancy the Liffey for Christmas day swim.

I have seen people having a dip in grand Canal on Christmas Day (>25 years ago!)

Freddio

Sorry, I was being dramatic but I thought the op was implying a solo run saying disorganized