DONEGAL WOMAN Anne Marie Ward yesterday became the first Irish woman to swim the north channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The Portnablagh woman completed the 35km (22 mile) swim in a time of 18 hours 59 minutes and 26 seconds, finishing near Port Patrick on Thursday morning at 3.25am.
Until her achievement only nine swimmers had completed the channel crossing. The first was in 1947.
Ms Walsh said she was “absolutely delighted”.
“This was my fourth attempt and like on the last attempt the jellyfish caused a lot of problems – I am all stings.
“It was really tough but . . . everything was right and I had a great team with me. The last couple of hours was the worst and I was worried at one stage that I was going to lose it. I had a limited time to get ashore in Scotland before the tide turned and started pushing me out to sea again. It was dark at that stage and difficult to judge the distance to go.
“I coped really well with the cold. The water was between 12 and 13 degrees . . . at home the water is around 15 degrees. I trained all winter to help me prepare for the cold.” She paid tribute to the team who helped her, including members of Sheephaven Sub Aqua Club.