Corkman Best Swimmer in the World

16th Jul 2012

Almost at the exact same moment that Cork goalkeeper Anthony Nash blasted a penalty into the Wexford net on Saturday evening in Thurles, there was another Cork man achieving amazing feats on the other side of the world as Steve Redmond finished the last few metres of the Ocean 7 challenge in Japan.

Redmond is the first person in living history to complete this jaw dropping feat – the equivalent of the seven summit challenge for mountaineers.

The legend Redmond as spent about 50% of his life in water and may be eligible for a fin and gill transplant

The swim took a staggering 14 hours 24 minutes – most of us can’t stay awake balmed out on a couch for that long not to mind trudging through icy swell for hours on end.

Many Corkonians who dare to take a dip at the beach for more than ten minutes have to be pumped with whisky and tae CPR-style for two hours afterwards.

The forty five year old teak-tough man from west Cork completed the final crossing 19.5km Tsugaru strait on his fourth attempt after vicious tides and weather conditions tried to make Redmond pack in the challenge.

Yeah it's beautiful but don't cod yourself: tiz freezing.

The super human had already completed the Moloka’i Channel in Hawaii, the Cook Strait Swim in New Zealand, the Catalina Channel in California, the English Channel, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Irish Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

And in true Cork style he declared after his Saturday splash about that he “wasn’t even that good a swimmer” and couldn’t wait to get back home to Cork. It brought a tear to our red tinted eyes.

The word ‘legend’ is bandied about too freely these days but the Skibb man deserves every vowel and consonant, his humbleness and desire to be back in the People’s Republic making him a real hero.

Although born in England like most people who live in west Cork, Redmond has taken to the water in west Cork like a mullet to the River Lee doing his training at Lough Hyne. He also mistakenly moved to Kildare for a while and just like Shay Fahy and Larry Tompkins it just goes to show what moving to Cork can for do for a Lilly White.

Phelps shows his pain on Sunday as he learns he is no longer the world's greatest swimmer

If you meet this man in a pub, as a Corkonian, you are obliged to buy him a pint of Beamish, Murphy's or, if he's not out on the rantan, a Tanora. He might even give you some tips on how to get into the water at Myrtleville without screaming like an old doll and mortifying yourself.

Up the Rebels!