Cork teen smashes Irish women’s record for Straits of Gibraltar swim

A Cork teenager has broken the Irish women’s record for one of the world’s toughest open-water swims.

Rian Herlihy, 16, from Glounthane, completed the gruelling Straits of Gibraltar swim from Spain to Africa in a remarkable three hours and 41 minutes last Friday — shaving almost 25 minutes off fellow Cork woman Sarah Clifford’s old record of four hours and four minutes.

Rian is now part of an elite club of fewer than 450 people who have, since 1928, completed the swim in togs only — without a wetsuit.