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11/06/1959 Jack McClelland 3.10.00 Rue point Watch the footage here
**/**/1964 Kendall Mellor 2.42.00
**/**/1964 Bryan Finlay 2.46.42
**/**/1964 Derek Turner 2.50.00*TBC Link to race report
**/**/2010 Gary Knox TBC
03/06/2017 Sabrina Wiedmer 2.09.31 Rathlin harbour
Courtesy of Pádraig Mallon at start, midway and finish around Rathlin Sound, Northern Ireland.
Pádraig Mallondescribed Sabrina Wiedmer'slatest 10 km marathon swim in Northern Ireland.
"It was flat calm at the start, a little rattle of turbulence in the middle, and flat calm at the end. Today's swim by Swiss swimmer Sabrina Wiedmer made landfall on the shores of Ballycastle after completing the 10 km swim across the Rathlin Soundin a time of 2 hours 9 minutes and 31 seconds in the 10.5°C (50.9°F) waters.
The team at Infinity Channel Swimming was invited to revive this great swim, first attempted by open water swimming great Jack McClelland in 1959 in 3 hours 10 minutes and was last completed by Gary Knox in 2010.
Sabrina was supported by crew member and open water champion Olive Conroy. Amazing people do amazing things."
Copyright © 2008-2017 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Read more about this swim
ON SATURDAY, 20 marathon sea swimmers attempted to cross the Rathlin Sound - seven miles of choppy, leaden waters between Rathlin Island, off the north coast of Co Antrim, and the seaside town of Ballycastle.
Clad only in swimsuits, caps, goggles and copious amounts of grease - no wetsuits allowed, according to official sea-swimming rules - the competitors were given a hearty send-off by a crowd of supporters who had gathered in the driving rain at Church Bay, Rathlin. A flotilla of small craft accompanied the swimmers as they headed out into the wild open sea. Kenny Boyd, organiser of the Swim For Life 08 event - knew exactly what they would be facing, having crossed the Rathlin Sound solo last year.
"It's a highly challenging swim, which has only been completed three times in the last 50 years. The tides and currents are notorious - and then there's the jellyfish, the stinging sea lice and maybe the odd basking shark for company."
Raising awareness of climate change was the motivation behind the British Council-sponsored event. "Northern Ireland has the largest carbon footprint of any region in the UK," said Mr Boyd.
"We want politicians to urgently set far-reaching targets for renewable energy as part of the drive towards a zero-carbon economy.
"After all, 10 percent of Northern Ireland's electricity could come from Rathlin Sound alone - that's clean, green tidal power."
Experienced sea-swimmer Ned Dennison (50), from Cork, hotly tipped to win the competition, bluntly predicted: "It should be moderately rough, and if anyone gets the currents wrong they won't finish," as he waited to enter the water at Church Bay.
Dennison swam a 28.5-mile circuit of Manhattan Island in 2007 and earlier this year swam 16 miles around Valentia Island, off Co Kerry.
Check it out here
