World Record Triumph in Armagh: Camlough Lake Record Breakers!
The picturesque village of Camlough in County Armagh, Ireland, was the scene of an unlikely world record triumph last week.
Camlough Lake, on the outskirts of the village, is well-known for its beautiful scenery and fishing, but 200 swimmers took to the Lake over 10 days in September to attempt to break the Guinness World Record for Longest Continuous Open Water Relay Swim.
The previous record, which stood at 480km, wasn't so much broken as smashed by the Camlough Lake Record Breakers who matched the previous record some 2 days ahead of schedule and went on to add a further 200km to create a new world record. Local MP Conor Murphy was the first swimmer to take to the water on Wednesday 9th September at 6pm and complete a lap of 1,500 metres. The record was equalled by local swimming veteran Myles McCourt who reached the magic number at 12.26pm on Wednesday 16th September in front of hundreds of supporters cheering him on. Another local man Paul McCann then took up the challenge to set the new world record. The swimming remarkably continued for another 3 days afterwards, setting the new world record at 685.5 Km that should prove very difficult to beat.
The idea was the brainchild of local swimming enthusiasts Aoiffe McCourt-Lynch and Padraig Mallon, who enlisted the support of swimmers from across Ireland. The driving force behind the success though, was the support and involvement of the local community. Spokeperson Maria Murphy said "The level of participation by everyone in Camlough and the wider South Armagh area was fantastic. This was a very serious and ultimately very successful attempt to break the world record for the longest continuous openwater relay swim, but it's fair to say that there was a really buzzing, carnival-type atmosphere at the Lake over the course of the 10 day marathon swim."
And the efforts of the Camlough Record Breakers were being keenly followed by south Armagh natives across the world. Paul O'Callaghan, from neighbouring Bessbrook and now Chairman of the London Armagh Association, said, "It's really amazing that so many people have worked so hard to bring this great achievement to Camlough. There's a real sense of pride amongst Armagh people here that we've broken the World Record and that we're up there now with the best of them!" Hugh Meehan, originally from Lissummon and now living in the USA, said, "It's great to be in a city like Boston with people from every country on the planet living here, and be able to say that my part of the world, South Armagh, holds this world record. It's a credit to everyone involved."
The final swimmer, Donna Cooke completed the last lap of this marathon, world record-breaking swim at 10.55am on Saturday 19th September. It took 232 hours 52minutes and 30 seconds to complete the total distance of 685.5km. A lap of hounor was then swam by some of those involved in organising the event, who were accompanied by a group of local children who had trained in the lake all summer.
By all accounts the people of Camlough and South Armagh held an equally marathon celebration of this fantastic achievement, and the party is expected to continue for some time to come!