Oa Giants swim St Gorge's Channel from Carne Pier to St Davids

The Oa Giants swam 116kms (72 miles) from County Wexford to the Pembrokeshire coast. The men are hoping to have set a new world record, completing the swim in 34 hours and 25 minutes.

Keith Garry, John McElroy, Colin Lindsay, Dominic Mudge, Chris Judge and Bill Donnelly took it in turns to brave St George’s Channel in a challenging day and night relay swim, setting off early one Saturday from Carne Pier.

They described spending months preparing for the challenge with winter swimming in the sea and lakes, as well as mountain climbing, running, strength training and nutritional regimes, to ensure they were at their peak.

The men braved ferry traffic and fishing vessels, thousands of jellyfish, seasickness and traumatic night swims.

They took turns to swim. They were supported by a crew from Infinity Channel Swimming and fuelled by soup, stew and bacon and egg butties.

Although some parts of the swim were traumatic, others were magical. Speaking to the PA news agency Keith Garry described ‘swimming belly to belly’ with a pod of 15 playful dolphins.

The men described one of the most challenging moments of the swim as the reef between Ramsey Island and the mainland, where they faced standing waves, whirlpools and a boiling pot of water directions.

Bill Donnelly was the team member who completed the swim on the Sunday evening, touching land close to St Davids where the swimmers were welcomed by the local lifeboat crew.

The Infinity support team said it had been eyeing up St George’s Channel for a number of years, and paid tribute to local fishermen and the RNLI for lending them their expertise.

The Oa Giants set two world records last year, including the North Channel between Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the challenging waters of the Oa Channel from Islay to the Giant’s Causeway.

The swim to St Davids will now be submitted for ratification to the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association and Guinness World Records.