County Armagh man completes 13k solo sea swim in memory of late Godmother

A Portadown man has braved jellyfish infested waters to complete a 13k solo sea swim for charity.

Conan Power finished the challenge earlier this week in memory of his late Godmother Colette Dinsmore, who passed away from cancer.

He has raised almost 10000 euro for the National Breast Cancer Research Institute in Ireland.

The 24-year-old tells us it was one of his toughest challenges to date:

"There was quite a lot of jellyfish so on the way there the captain said to me it will be a bit of a struggle for a few kilometres.

"I got out at Clare and for about 5K it was just infested with them and I got stung quite a lot but you just had to stay calm and fire away."

The Biomedical Engineer who has completed an Ironman and a number of ultramarathons in the past, tells us about the advantages of sport:

"I've been swimming from a very young age.

"I was part of Portadown swimming club there from no age and then once I moved down here (Galway) since I was a bit closer to the sea I just thought I'd get in and give it a go.

"I find it pretty good, it's quite beneficial, it's good fitness and the cold water clears your head."

Having raised a substantial amount for the charity, Conan tells us how his late Godmother Colette Dinsmore inspired the challenge:

"She was a teacher in Holy Trinity in Cookstown.

"I was very young whenever she died but I've been pretty close to her two daughters Cara and Niamh as well as her husband Seamus.

"Niamh's actually getting married so it was nice timing in memory of her (Colette)."

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