Published: Wednesday, 25th August, 2010 5:00pm

Cross channel solo swim

Breccene Ennis from Ballyconnell.

A Ballyconnell man is going to attempt a solo swim across the English Channel next Monday and will be the first man from County Cavan to get involved in such an awesome adventure. Breccene Ennis, who currently lives in the Ballinteer area of County Dublin, told The Anglo-Celt this week that his only objective in attempting this challenge is to raise money for Temple Street Children's Hospital and he hopes to raise at least €5,000.

The swim will be monitored by a referee from the Channel Swim Association (CSA) who will be on the support boat to make sure that Breccene does not touch or hold on to the boat at any time during the swim.

"I'm only allowed to wear a swim hat, goggles and trunks. Wet suits unfortunately are not permitted so the cold will be an issue," explained Breccene.

He started training for this event in early 2008 and goes into the water every day covering between 3,000 to 17,000 metres during sessions and on average covering over 25,000 metres per week. He devotes over 12 hours a week to his training schedule.

Breccene says that Cavan is rich in lakes and open water swimming has become a massive new sport, being recently introduced to the Olympic Games.

Breccene has been doing open water swimming for three years now.

The long distance swims covered so far are Inishbofin 15K, Lough Sheelin 15K, Lough Erne 17K, and half lake Zurich 16K.

Martin Cullen who heads up the Irish Long Distance swimming Association also resides in Cavan town and organised the successful Irish Open Water Championships on Lough Sheelin from Crover House Hotel this year. He also organised the Inishbofin, Lough Sheelin and Lough Erne swims.

There has been a long tradition of open water swimming in Cavan dating back to the famous Sean Walsh from the Cavan ice breakers who runs the traditional Christmas morning swims.

These are all build-up swims for the channel and Breccene also had to do a six-hour qualifying swim in Cork during July of this year to ensure he was ready for the task.

"Most of my training is carried out during the winter in pools around the country and during the summer spread between the 40 foot in Dun Laoghaire and also Lough Ramor in Virginia," he said.

The web link is mycharity.ie/event/breccene_enniss_event/. People can also donate by contacting Temple Street Hospital directly and subscribe through Breccene's solo channel swim.