‘People are so good’: Leitrim man reflects on record-breaking Shannon charity swim

The word ‘tenacious’ doesn’t quite do justice to Conor Lanigan’s attitude, but it’s a good start. The 19-year-old from Carrick-on-Shannon endured a week of intense mental and physical exertion, swimming the length of the River Shannon over seven days and breaking the record for the fastest time to complete the swim of the Shannon.

There’s no doubt that swimming over 230 kilometres in a week is extreme, to say the least, but there was a bigger reason behind Conor’s swim: raising money for the Irish Cancer Society. He has raised over €12,000 and counting, surpassing his target by over €7,000.

Throughout the pain and sickness he endured, securing the title for the fastest swim of the Shannon was simply the cherry on top after raising so much money for a charity that is close to his heart.

On August 28, Conor reached Limerick City, finishing his week-long epic feat as night fell over the city. “I’m just glad it’s done, the relief of it,” says Conor. “I’d say I’m still processing it. It was nice getting out of the pier at the end and taking off the wetsuit for the last time.”

The process took months of preparation, with Conor training since May. He is no stranger to the water, having swam competitively for 13 years until January with Trident Swim Club.

Conor says the goal of the swim was always to break the record, but it was on day four of the swim when he realised he could really do it. Even then, the fourth day was the most difficult for him, as he battled food poisoning while swimming.

After spending four hours out of the water trying to recover, he got back in and set himself a target of swimming 10 kilometres. He swam 15.

“I was out of the water for about four hours. I was meant to do 38 kilometres that day,” explained Conor. “So I said, if I can get back in and do another 10 kilometres, that would make the seven days more doable.

“If I hadn’t got back in at all it would have been a hard seven to finish. After getting sick for four hours, I managed to get back in and do 15 kilometres,” he says, where he made it to Shannonbridge.

“That was actually my fastest part of the entire swim. I was thinking, if my arms and my legs hurt more than my stomach, I won’t feel it so I was going as fast as I could. I thought to myself, ‘this is in the bag now.’”

His days were spent like never before, eating every 45 minutes in the water, followed by a proper meal, and sleeping on a boat at night. He had to be helped into the boat by his parents because his body was so sore, while also dealing with painful chafing caused by the wetsuit.

Through it all, he continued with the help of his friends, family and the cause. “I was listening to the motivation and the messages from everyone which helped so much,” he says. “Also, knowing that if I stopped, I would’ve gotten enough of a slagging off of my friends,” he jokes.

Before Conor had begun the swim, he had already raised €6,000. The support only continued at pace during the swim, with strangers he met along the way donating too. “That was amazing, even when we were stopping in places people were putting money in the bucket and scanning the QR code to donate. People really got behind it.”

Conor was mainly inspired by his family to take this on. His grandfather rowed 100km of the Shannon while he was recovering from cancer at age 70 and, at age 80, he rowed 80km while raising money for North West Hospice. Cancer has had a significant impact on Conor’s family, as his mother Helen recovered from the disease and his godmother is currently undergoing treatment.

“My mam always said during her cancer journey: ‘you can put up with anything for a week.’ My godmother started treatment for cancer on Monday and during the swim I was thinking about her and my mam,” says Conor.

The swimming itself was, of course, difficult, especially at night when visibility was just little to none. Another challenge was also just the boredom – being alone with his own thoughts for hours and hours. “You’re just so bored. I was reading the numbers on the side of the boat for hours, and the numbers aren’t changing but you’re still just reading them because there’s nothing else to do.”

Conor had some company in the water along the way, including locals Clara Doherty and Eoghan Rynn, while World and European Junior record holder John Shortt from Galway also swam for a number of kilometres on the final day as he approached Limerick. He was supported every kilometre, however, by his dedicated support crew, including mam Helen, dad Barry and uncles Pierce and Ciaran.

“You met enough people on the trip, the support was amazing,” he says. He was also joined by William Little, the brother of Paul Little.

Paul Little swam the length of the Shannon last year for charity. William, on a boat, guided Conor through Lough Ree. “William helped me get through all of Lough Ree. He drove us through the whole thing. We had a lot of people show that they really just wanted to help. People are so good,” he says.

On the last day, he swam to Limerick and then had to wait two hours for the tide to come in to complete the river. Afterwards, he got back in and swam the final four kilometres.

Months of preparation, hard work, support, motivation and a cause helped bring Conor to the end of the line but, most of all, his own sheer and utter dedication.

“I did not think I was as mentally resilient. I knew I was a dedicated person, but I didn’t think I could get into the trenches like that and still keep going,” admits Conor.

The first thing he did when he reached the pier in Limerick was crack open a bottle of champagne his aunt had brought, take photos and enjoy a well-deserved drink with his family.

He isn’t in a huge rush to do another extreme swim for a while, to no surprise. “It's just great being done now. I’d never swim the Shannon again but I might do an Ironman or something like that,” he says. “I wouldn’t do something as extreme again. That was just ridiculous!”

As Conor winds down from his remarkable journey, he looks forward to going back to college in University College Dublin for another year, where he is studying financial maths. He will carry this title with him back to Dublin, and around with him for the rest of his life.

“It’s a very proud thing to have. My name is always attached to swimming but to be attached to the Shannon now is quite a happy thing for me. I like the sound of it,” says Conor.

Conor’s fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society is still available to donate to at this link.