Father of two becomes first person to paddleboard around Ireland's 1,600km coastline
A father of two has become the first person to paddleboard around the island of Ireland.
Jim Swift aka The Paddle Fada, arrived back safely in Tramore, Co. Waterford, yesterday afternoon after using only the power of his arms to circumnavigate the country’s coastline over the past five weeks.
Mr Swift, 37, undertook the marathon journey to raise funds for Waterford Hospice.
He left his native Tramore on June 21 with a 1,600km journey ahead of him. He averaged between five to 10 hours daily on the water.
His father, Declan, and brother, Brian, took time off work to support him on a relay basis throughout the trip.
His wife, Meadhbh, and sons, Deicí, 5, and three-year-old Art were thrilled to welcome him safely home.
A Co Waterford man has spent over five weeks circumnavigating Ireland on a surfboard. Jim Swift from Tramore is believed to be the first person to paddleboard the entire 1,600 kilometres of Irish coastline pic.twitter.com/WkJErEPcOv
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) July 27, 2019
Meadhbh praised his determination: “When you see the glamour of arriving in and the signs, the people and the press, you think, ‘wow’.
Minutes after arriving back on Tramore Strand Mr Swift said he felt a sense of happiness, pride and also gratitude towards people who helped him over the past month.
He said he took on the tough task because of “a sense of adventure, and I wanted to prove it to myself, I wanted to collect money for charity and I wanted to promote this great sport, paddleboarding”.
"I’m glad to be home.”
A large crowd gathered at ladies' slip in Tramore and along the seaside town's promenade, to welcome him home at 2pm.
Dozens of surfers also made their way out to see him as he rounded Brownstown Head and arrived into Tramore Bay, as did two RNLI boats.
Mr Swift started his sea trip by paddling west towards Cork and circumnavigated the western and northern coastline, before landing in Howth, north Dublin earlier this week.
The adventurer carried out a specific type of paddleboarding known as pone in which he lay chest down on the board, or on his knees, and typically used a butterfly-style swimming movement to propel himself through the water.
Although previously attempted, it is understood that the round-island trip has never been completed before.
