Ealing Hospital Doctor Prepares For English Channel Swim
Having tackled Covid wards Dervla Ireland takes on a different challenge
Dervla Ireland preparing for her Channel swim
An Ealing Doctor is taking on a major Channel Swim Challenge to help those with spinal injuries.
Dervla Ireland is part of a six person team including a lawyer, policeman, soldier and teachers, who will be swimming three one-hour legs on the Dover-Calais crossing.
Dervla began training last summer but faced serious disruption when the second lockdown saw swimming pools and group activities suspended. She managed to stay in shape by cycling and running, despite the punishing workload of working on a covid ward.
Her father has completed a solo channel swim and her sister Kelly has already taken part in a successful channel relay.
Aspire Bulldog team
Dervla says: “I was ten-years-old when my dad swam the channel and remember being distinctly unimpressed until my mum told me he was in the water for more than 14 hours.
“I'm trying not to think about the jellyfish or getting seasick,” adds the 25 year-old junior doctor who joined the trust last summer.
She has found a novel way to acclimatise to the bracing waters of the channel by taking increasing long cold showers and baths to toughen her up.
Her DIY approach echoes that of Olympic champion Don ‘Mighty Mouse' Walker who replicated the sweltering heat of Rome by training next to a tub of steaming hot water in his bathroom.
Dervla added,“I'm swimming several hours a week now and have been using the outdoor ponds in Hampstead and the local reservoir. It's going well and we had our first group session in Dover recently which involved swimming round the harbour. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.”
The Aspire Bulldogs will need all the tenacity of their namesake to complete the 21 mile crossing which stretches to an arm-aching 26 miles with the `drift of the current.
Dervla who is raising money for Aspire, a charity that helps people with life changing spinal injuries regain their independence. If you can sponsor her please visit her Just Giving page.
Annemarie Flanagan
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24th May 2021