Summer by the sea not so relaxing for charity pair in round Ireland swim

A summer spent eating, swimming, and resting doesn’t sound too taxing but it could just earn two intrepid adventurers a place in the record books.

Limerick man Maghnus Collins and David Burns from Coleraine are one month into an attempt to swim their way around Ireland — a feat that would be a first in the world of swimming achievements and would also break records for the longest time spent swimming the Atlantic.

But it’s not all about the fame for the pair — they’re raising money for the RNLI Lifeboats and for Gorta Self Help Africa along the way.

The trip covers 1,600km and their plan is to complete it in 100-120 days by swimming 12 hours a day in two six-hour stints.

Having left Dublin on June 1, they’re now about to enter Cork waters and will be making their way around the Munster coastline for the next few weeks.

Maghnus, 30, and David, 31, have legal and marketing backgrounds but left both to get involved in extreme sports and fundraising.

They're off. Maghnus Collins & David Burns jump into Dalkey Sound to start of their 4 mth swim around Ireland today. pic.twitter.com/5jmQbQnJeM

— Fergal Keane (@fergalrte) June 3, 2015

They have since cycled 17,500km from Cape Town to Ireland, run 250km across the Sahara, kayaked a record distance along the Yangste River, and run 25 marathons in 26 days across Tibet.

Their round-Ireland swim, while not so exotic, will be their most challenging yet with serious risk of hypothermia and extreme weight-loss as they battle to consume at least 7,000 calories each a day to maintain strength and stamina.

“Spending up to 12 hours in the water each day and through the night is a significant issue in terms of maintaining a stable body temperature,” Maghnus said.

“Recent long-distance open-water swimming expeditions have experienced extraordinary difficulties with fat and muscle loss. A recent expedition saw the swimmer lose in excess of 35% of his bodyweight.”

The pair hope to raise €100,000 for the two charities. Anyone interested in supporting them can find more information on sand2snowadventures.com or their MyCharity page via www.selfhelpafrica.org