Sanctuary Runners take to the sea with open-water swimming lessons for locals and refugees

Rita Idanobo and Esmeraldo Tavares Ng celebrate after completing the Sanctuary Swimmers pilot programme on Myrtleville beach.

The award-winning charity Sanctuary Runners, which uses sport to foster integration, hopes to make a big splash with its new open-water swimming venture.

The not-for-profit movement, hailed at UN and European Commission level for its work uniting people across Ireland, hopes to bring locals together with refugees and migrants living in direct provision to learn how to swim in the ocean.

The Sanctuary Swimmers initiative has been backed by refugee and 2022 Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini, the UNHCR goodwill ambassador whose story is told in the The Swimmers film on Netflix.

And Sanctuary Runners founder and chief executive Graham Clifford said it could be replicated internationally.

“Often the best ideas are the most simple and when it comes to bringing people together, swimming can achieve that in a healthy and positive way,” he said.

Swim Ireland instructor Deirdre Sheehan helping Hafiz Bilal Ahmed, originally from Pakistan, to float off Myrtleville beach in Cork.

The swimming project is the result of a joint venture between Swim Ireland and Sanctuary Runners and follows the completion of a pilot programme in Cork last autumn when 18 people from 13 different countries were taught how to swim by Swim Ireland instructor Deirdre Sheehan.

It is now being expanded to six locations countrywide. The swimming groups will consist of about 18 people, comprising locals and new arrivals to the area, with a Swim Ireland instructor who will be delivering a tailor-made programme to teach participants how to swim safely in the open sea.

Former Irish sprinter Ailís McSweeney, Ireland lead manager with the Sanctuary Runners, said: “Our hope is to create Sanctuary Swimmer groups in Kerry, Cork, Wicklow, Galway, and Dublin this year but perhaps elsewhere too.

We’re so excited to bring all our learnings from our work with the Sanctuary Runners to the water and to open sea swimming.” 

Sanctuary Runners was founded in Cork in 2018 and uses running to help break down any social barriers that might exist between migrants and locals across Ireland. It now has over 10,000 members across Ireland, many of whom have taken part in park runs, marathons and charity runs.

Sanctuary Swimmers on the beach at Fountainstown, Cork.

Mr Clifford said the new collaboration with Swim Ireland offers another vital strand for community integration.

“We live on an island, open sea swimming is a liberating gift we can all enjoy,” he said.

And even for those who may have developed negative views of the open sea because of their journey to Ireland, conquering those alongside locals is so important.

“As with our core work with the Sanctuary Runners, we believe sport has a vital role to play in community integration, bringing people together no matter their nationality or legal status and helping natural positive friendships develop while always championing solidarity and respect to all.”