Mitchelstown swimmer, Diarmuid Dennehy, is still reeling after himself and two team members swam the English Channel in 16 hours and 32 minutes and so far they have raised almost €1,000 for Pieta House.

Diarmuid, Liam Kelleher from Mallow and Stuart Bowman left Shakespeare Beach near Dover at 9.38am on Monday, September 23 and they hit Cap Gris Nez in France in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Diarmuid is currently working in accountancy in London and is a native of Cloughleafin, Mitchelstown, but he would have also been heavily involved in GAA in Kildorrery.

Speaking about the swim, Diarmuid told The Avondhu that they had prepared themselves well through training and it is certainly something he would think about doing again, either solo or in a relay.

"We’d trained a lot and probably did more than we needed to, in some respects, so there was nothing overly shocking about the experience. Luckily we managed to avoid any seasickness so that certainly helped," he said.

He added that rather than setting themselves a target time, they had given themselves a window of achieving the swim anywhere between 12 and 20 hours and were very happy with their end time.

Now that the Channel swim is under his belt, Diarmuid revealed that he has more plans as to what he will conquer next, but he was keeping any hints close to his chest.

"The immediate aim is to survive winter in Hyde Park again sans-wetsuit, while putting in some hours in the pool working on technique and base fitness.

"We all have some goals in mind, but we are keeping them under wraps so as to avoid putting too much pressure on ourselves. Suffice to say it’s not the last you’ll hear of us," Diarmuid said.

The swim raised almost €1,000 for Pieta House so far and Diarmuid said that they are delighted with this amount, as they didn't expect to raise that much.

"Big thanks goes to everyone who contributed and also for messages of support which filtered through from at home- they made the experience that bit more enjoyable and rewarding," Diarmuid told The Avondhu.

If anyone wishes to pledge their support to Diarmuid and his team by supporting Pieta House, they can still do so online through idonate.ie/fromdoverwithlove and donations can also be made through the Dennehy family in Mitchelstown.

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