The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Swimmer Nuala conquers Cape in world first
THE choppy and unforgiving waters of Cape Horn won’t be on many people’s list of places to swim, all except for Nuala Moore that is.
The Dingle aqua-heroine has just completed the gargantuan challenge of swimming from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean in one of the most treacherous stretches of water in the world: at Cape Horn.
Making it even more incredible is the fact that Nuala is now the first person in the world to complete the Atlantic to Pacific swim around the Cape.
It was a swim Nuala described as ‘one of the most vulnerable and humbling swims of my life.’
Nuala is no stranger to unorthodox swims having already completed cold water challenges in Russia and the Bering Strait.
Nuala set off on her latest escapade a week ago from Kerry Airport to the southern tip of iconic Cape Horn determined to complete her task.
Nuala posted details of her experiences on social media this week which make for pretty dramatic reading.
“That was one hell of a ride to the southerly tip of the end of the world. I started my swim south of the southern tip with no land east or west,” said Nuala.
Unsurprisingly, it’s been far from plain sailing with Nuala at one point describing water temperatures of ‘7 degrees, and waves of three to four meters high’ pulling the boat vertical to her swimming position and forcing her to temporarily abandon the swim for safety reasons.
“This was the first time in a long time that my fears of separation came through my head, ‘can they get to me?’ Or ‘wondering if they can see me?’
“The demon voices stepped in and it took quite a few minutes to settle in my head before I could got into the water. My head was racing.”
Nuala added: “I swam into the vessel. It’s not easy to hold a huge vessel to the speed of a swimmer. At this point I was happy to exit. content to say I have crossed the oceans between the Pacific to the Atlantic south of the tip of Cape Horn.”
Nuala was assisted in her swim by a small but busy back-up team. However, the Dingle woman is far from finished with her challenging travails as she now hopes to swim across the mouth of the Italy Glacier in the Beagle Straits.
If Nuala is successful in the 2km swim, then she will be only the second person in the world to have done it.
But that’s not all, Nuala also has the Straits of Magellan in her sights – another 5km plunge into freezing waters.
“I’ll never forget these moments at Cape Horn. Thank you to all who have helped me realise and appreciate this moment in time. I have an amazing team.”