{"id":5759,"date":"2017-05-23T16:54:32","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T15:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/?p=5759"},"modified":"2017-05-23T16:55:30","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T15:55:30","slug":"swimming_for_charity_through_shark_infested_waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/selfhelpafrica.org\/uk\/swimming_for_charity_through_shark_infested_waters\/","title":{"rendered":"Swimming for charity through shark-infested waters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dangerous currents and freezing cold, shark-infested waters might be enough to have most of us scrambling for dry land, but not two friends from Kildare, Ireland, who set off for America\u2019s West Coast next week, to compete in a dare-devil sea swim for charity.<\/p>\n

The swim from the notorious prison island of Alcatraz to San Francisco was immortalised by Clint Eastwood\u2019s classic \u2018Escape from Alcatraz\u2019 nearly 40 years ago. For generations it was regarded by prison inmates as \u201cthe impossible swim\u201d because of the numbers who perished in their attempts to escape \u2018The Rock.\u2019<\/p>\n

But in recent times it has been the scene for an extreme sports challenge that has attracted competitors from around the globe. Stephen Tighe and Paul Quigley will join their ranks when they take the plunge, and attempt the impossible, at \u2018Sharkfest Swim 2017\u2019 in San Francisco Bay on June 4th next.<\/p>\n

Stephen, an electrical engineer and his pal Paul, who co-owns a hair salon, are covering all of the costs of the trip out of their own pockets. But they have also been raising thousands for charity, with international agricultural organisation Self Help Africa, and a children\u2019s education programme in Cambodia set to benefit from their expedition.<\/p>\n

A broadcast interview with a previous competitor in Sharkfest provided Stephen with the inspiration to take the challenge, and although he admits that \u2018it took some convincing\u2019 to get Paul onboard, once they signed up for the event there was no looking back.<\/p>\n

The two men are no strangers to extreme challenges either, having cycled the length of Ireland together in a single day, last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew that we would need to do a lot of training to get to the standard that was required, and have been training every week in Dublin Bay to prepare ourselves,\u201d Stephen says. \u201cSince we started training we\u2019ve probably each completed around 250km, so we should be ready,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

The swim from Alcatraz is far from straightforward, as strong currents and the presence of Great White sharks in the water can make it a challenging and nervous crossing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re prepared for the cold and hopefully won\u2019t have to worry about the sharks. There will be plenty of us in the water, so as long as we\u2019re not the slowest!\u201d Stephen jokes.<\/p>\n

You can lend your support to Paul and Stephen\u2019s challenge by visiting their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two friends from Ireland are swimming for charity through shark-infested waters from Alcatraz to San Francisco. <\/p>\n Read More<\/a>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5760,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[637],"tags":[794,452,795,793],"class_list":["post-5759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-alcatraz","tag-charity","tag-sharkfest","tag-swimming"],"yoast_head":"\nSwimming for charity through shark-infested waters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two friends from Ireland are swimming for charity through shark-infested waters from Alcatraz to San Francisco.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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