Left to right: Tom Healy, 20 month old twins Lex and Bruce, and Rachel Lee. Rachel won the recent Ladies Liffey Swim and Tom is the fastest ever Irishman to swim the English Channel.
Pic: Jason Clarke Photography
Following the launch of five Dublin City Council Centres with the new brand of Dublin City Council Sports and Fitness Centres, swimmers are invited to Swim the M50!
The Swim the M50 challenge will be taking place on Wednesday the 29th of October, and will see the public attempt to get their local centre to 1,800 lengths of the pool, swimming a total of 45 kilometres. The Ballymun, Ballyfermot, Finglas, and Markievcz centres will be taking part in the challenge.
If any centre breaks the 1,800 lengths mark early in the day, the challenge will be extended to the 121 kilometre Swim Dublin to Holyhead, as each centre competes to swim the farthest!
The Council will have spent €3.5m upgrading its facilities by the end of the year, with the centres in Irishtown, Ballymun, Ballyfermot, Finglas, and Markievcz on Townsend Street in the city centre all seeing the benefit, including the reopening of Ballyfermot swimming pool following an extensive period of work. Speaking at the launch, Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke said, “It is a great pleasure to re-open Ballyfermot Swimming Pool after 18 months of refurbishment work. Dublin City Council is helping people get more active through its Sports & Fitness Centres. Last year the Centres held over 180,000 swimming lessons for children and 30,000 swimming lessons and aqua fit classes for adults. Uniquely, Dublin City Council Sports & Fitness Centres include group adult swimming classes free of charge with every adult annual membership.”
Admission to the Swim the M50 challenge is free on the day, but any donations given will be passed on to local charities. Markievicz Centre will be giving its donations to the Inner City Helping Homeless group. In order to encourage people to join up and become more active, Dublin City Council Sports and Fitness Centres are offering a massive 50% discount on their full monthly membership until the 29th, bringing the cost down to €25.
By Aimée Mac Leod
