MEET the Irishman who completed a 12-hour swim in shark-infested waters . . . at night.
Brilliant Barry Murphy, 61, from Ranelagh in Dublin, completed the international Triple Crown in September when he swam 34km from Catalina Island to Smugglers Cove in Los Angeles.
That is on top of previous overseas endeavours — the 20 Bridges, a gruelling 48km swim around Manhattan Island earlier this year, and the English Channel in 2019.
And while those swims all took place during the daytime, the choppy 12 hours 28min Catalina Island crossing started at night, when the local sharks go into hunting mode.
In August, a month before Barry’s dip, a Great White even rammed a fishing boat off the same Catalina Island.
Barry, who has his eyes set on another shark-infested swim in March – told the Irish Sun: “I got in and just had to put the thoughts of sharks out of my mind.
“But it’s not easy as I knew they actually feast around the other side of the island, so I just had to plough on and hope for the best.
“The reason you swim up to eight hours in darkness is that you get less windy conditions at night.
‘A TOASTY 20C’
“I set off in ideal conditions but the weather deteriorated very quickly when what the locals call the ‘Diablo Wind’ came in, resulting in pretty lumpy conditions during most of the swim.
“It was a challenging swim but on the plus side the sea temperature was a toasty 20C.
“As with all these types of swims it’s about getting there, which I did.”
Barry’s name is already in the Guinness World Records book as the oldest Irishman to complete the Original Triple Crown, when he finished the Bristol Channel in August 2023 aged 60 years and 271 days.
It was the second time he did the Bristol slog after organisers bungled his first attempt and said they could not ratify his initial crossing.
He nailed that 42k crossing on August 24 2023 — exactly a month after his first go.
It made Barry, a member of NAC Masters club in Dublin – the oldest man to complete the Original Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.
The challenge consists of crossing the English Channel between England and France, the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland and, of course, the Wales to England Bristol Channel swim.
He has also completed the Irish Triple Crown, consisting of The Fastnet, The Galway Bay and The North Channel.
He is one of just 13 people to complete the Irish Triple Crown and one of 19 to do The Original Triple Crown. Only five people ever have finished both Triple Crowns.
By completing the Catalina Swim, Barry now has the triple Triple Crown — the Original, International and Irish.
But he is not stopping there.
He aims to land his fourth Triple Crown next month, when he swims False Bay in Cape Town, Robben Island and Cape Point.
Barry said: “I’m flying over in March and plan on doing the three of them in one trip.
“False Bay is the longest at 34km, so that’s the one I’m most concerned about. The others are both just over 10km, so should be OK.
NOTORIOUS FOR JELLYFISH
“Of course, there are lots of sharks in South Africa too, so that’s another concern.
“But at least over there they use a shark shield, which emits an electrical frequency that keeps them away.”
Despite swimming all over the world, Barry says his toughest test was here in 2022.
The North Irish Channel – one of the Ocean Sevens series of swimming routes — is notorious for jellyfish, strong currents, changeable weather conditions and low water temperatures.
Barry said he was stung about 20 to 30 times on that one and saw one jellyfish the size of a CAR.
He said: “I encountered a lot of jellyfish – one was the size of a small car, but the adrenaline and cold water helps you swim through the pain.
“You have to fight the urge to quit as you’re seeing people in the support boat wearing coats and hats who look so warm.
“Your body is constantly screaming at you to get out of the sea because the cold water is so uncomfortable. You question your sanity but you just have to keep going.”
