Marathon swimmer fitted for wet suit

Marathon swimmer Steve Redmond certainly looks like a fish out of water as he gets suited and booted for his upcoming Late, Late Show appearance tomorrow.

As he prepares to complete the final swim in Japan in order to become the first person in the world to complete the Ocean’s Seven challenge, Skibbereen-based fashion retailer Seán Murray decided to take a trip to Lough Hyne to measure Steve up ahead of the television appearance.

The Ocean’s Seven is open-water swimming’s equivalent of mountaineering’s Seven Summits challenge.

To date, 198 people have completed the Seven Summits. If Steve is successful in Japan, he will be the first person to have completed open-water swimming’s toughest challenge.

Steve told the Irish Examiner the final leg of the challenge will be one of the toughest to date.

“The problem is it is very much like the Cooke Strait — it is very rough and I have to be prepared, and I have to practice in the roughest waters I can find. It is a very rough swim in a very remote part of Japan.”

He has been preparing for this swim for the 18 months.

“This swim is like trying to do a marathon up the side of Everest — naked. It’s all psychological.”

The Ocean’s Seven challenge is made up of:

* The Irish Channel between Ireland and Scotland;

* The Cook Strait between the North and South Islands of New Zealand;

* The Moloka’i Channel between O’ahu and Moloka’i Islands in Hawaii;

* The English Channel between England and France;

* The Catalina Channel near Los Angeles, California;

* The Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa;

* The Tsugaru Channel between Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan.