A Roscommon man is halfway through his bid to become the first person to swim the length of the River Shannon without a wetsuit.
Ger Moore from Roxboro in Roscommon began his swim in Dowra last weekend and hopes to finished in Limerick on Saturday the 1st of July.
He want's to raise funds for Pieta House and the young people's mental health charity jigsaw by doing the swim and so far has collected almost €4,500 euro.
Speaking on the Let's Talk show on Friday Ger explains that swimming for several hours without a wetsuit can be challenging, but it's a personal preference of his anyway…
"Having a wetsuit gives you better buoyancy and retains the heat better and it gives you a better swimming position, but personally I generally don't wear a wetsuit. Now there's nothing wrong with it, it's a personal choice. It makes it a little bit more difficuly but if you get used to it you can train for it. Currently it's quite warm. Now I swim all year round which means I swim during the winter so the temperature isn't really a factor for me. It's just the amount of time in the water and then temperature can play a factor after x amount of hours".
Anyone who wants to donate to Ger's chosen charities Pieta House, or Jigsaw , can go to idonate.ie and find "swim against suicide".
Donations will also be accepted at Joe O' Brien's shop in Lanesboro, or McGuinness Total Health Pharmacy on Main Street Roscommon town.
