Gary swims his way into record books

November 1994

Bray’s best known sports star swam his way into the record books with the kind of powerhouse performance normally only displayed by marathon runners.

For over a period of little more than five hours, Olympian Gary O’Toole completed a gruelling 25 kilometre swim at the Presentation College pool last bank holiday Monday.

Gary completed the distance, enough to take him across the English Channel, in five hours, 10 minutes, and 15.87 seconds of non-stop swimming which exceeded the target he had set himself before the marathon of one minute 15 seconds for every 100 metres.

In spite of pre-marathon concerns that Gary would face a real test when it came to coping with cramp at ‘ the wall’ 15 or 16 kilometres into the swim, Gary rose to the occasion.

‘He’s a bit stiff now but apart from that, he’s none the worse for wear,’ reported his father Aidan O’Toole last Tuesday morning. ‘He was in remarkable condition after the event and took it all in his stride.’

Gary’s timings were all carefully recorded by IBM computer, which also provided detailed analysis of the star’s progress throughout the event, which was closely followed by a large crowd of supporters gathered at the poolside at Presentation College.

The effort was all in a good cause. Sponsorship raised from the marathon will go both towards funding Gary’s competitive programme (in the absence of funding from the sports council Cospor) and towards the ongoing repayments for major refurbishment work completed at the pool three years ago.

Presentation College principal Brother Eunan said he was delighted with the success of Gary’s marathon efforts. While no firm details of the amount raised were yet available, he was optimistic that the final tally would be a high one.

‘We are due to make a fourth repayment of £25,000 next January on the loan taken out to fund the pool repairs, so the money Gary has raised and the profile he has given our ongoing fundraising efforts are very welcome,’ he said.

Used by thousands of people every week, Presentation College pool is virtually the only public facility of its kind in the north Wicklow region and according to Brother Eunan, is in ‘constant demand every hour of the day, every day of the week’.

The pool had to be closed down for over two years when major structural defects were detected in 1989. The facility was re-opened in 1991 after the completion of extensive repairs costing approximately £200,000.