Wicklow Hospice Push Their Lough

Come in, the water’s pretty darn perfect…

atest press release from Allison and the Wicklow Hospice gang, issued yesterday, but, you know…

Challenge yourself in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains in beautiful Lough Dan on Sunday, July 12th, while supporting 2 amazing charities.

this  is a truly unique and dramatic location for a swim event.

It was formed by glacial erosion during the last Ice Age – but don’t worry, it has warmed up a little in the last 25,000 years. It’s 3km long and 500 metres wide with an average depth of 14m, and is surrounded by Luggala Mountain (595m) to the northeast and Kanturk (523m) to the west. Average summer water temperatures are between 13 to 15 degrees.

The event will be staged from the Lough Dan Scout Centre. There are 2 different distances starting in separate waves. The first is a 1km novice swim and the other a 3.9km Ironman Distance.

The 1km swim will start at 11am and consist of half a lap of the longer 2-lap 3.9km course. This distance is ideal if it’s your first open water event, your first lake swim event or if you fancy taking it easy and enjoying the spectacular scenery on the way around! Registration here.

The 3.9km swim course is perfect for those who want to challenge themselves or are training for longer distance swim or triathlon races. It consists of 2 equal laps and will bring you into the heart of Lough Dan. This wave will start at 11.10am. Registration here.

Wetsuit or brave the summer water temperatures in your togs – it’s up to you. We’ll have our friends from Just Runs to give you an accurate time with their chip timing system and we’ll supply you with an official hat according to your selected distance! Swim Buoys are mandatory (and can be purchased from our friends in Base2Race).

There will be a very manageable safety cutoff time for both distances: 1 hour for the 1km swim and 2 hours for the 3.9km distance.

And we’re honoured to be partnering with two incredible charities for our inaugural event.

Everyone will be familiar with the amazing work that Our Lady’s Hospice and Care Services undertake in their facility in Maghermore and in our communities in Co. Wicklow and beyond, but please click on the link below to find out more.

Our other charity, 22q11 Ireland, may be less familiar, but does equally outstanding work nationwide. They hold a special place in our hearts and we’d be grateful if you followed their link here to find out more!

For our inaugural event you will unfortunately have to be 18 years of age or older, but it’s our intention to have a junior segment in the coming years.

There’s no upper age limit to enter, and you can register for either the 1km swim or the 3.9km swim right here.