While this is an annual event for me (and thanks to everybody who supported me over the years), I am so happy and proud that Aoibhe is going to do the Helvick Swim with me this year. As a crew member on the Helvick Lifeboat, I know how important the swim is as a fundraiser and as a father, I am absolutely thrilled to swim it with my little girl. And for her to tackle this challenging swim at 14 is a testament to her swimming ability and bravery #FutureCrew

About the swim: the RNLI Helvick Swim is a family-friendly, community fundraiser event. Swimmers can choose to swim 4km or 2km along a marked course in Dungarvan Bay, finishing at Helvick Pier to a cheering crowd.Instead of a signup fee, participants are requested to fundraise for the event by creating their own fundraiser page and accepting sponsorship from within their own network of contacts.The event has grown enormously in popularity over the years and has become a huge community event, attracting swimmers and visitors to Helvick in the Waterford Gaeltacht on the mouth of Dungarvan Bay from all over Ireland and beyond.The spectacle of the swimmers accompanied by a safety flotilla of kayakers, ribs and other boats swimming along the marked course in Dungarvan Bay will be quite a sight, and as they swim into Helvick Pier.