Swim4Lynne makes splash for Brain Tumour Ireland

Seventy five adults took on the 2.6km challenge and around 40 children the 200-metre ‘splash and dash’ at Lough Owel for the Lynne Algar memorial swim on Saturday, no easy task considering the choppy conditions on a blustery morning.

There was a large gathering to cheer them on and provide support on and off the water, including Lynne’s parents David and Angela and Fiona Keegan, CEO of Brain Tumour Ireland, the charity funds raised from the event will be donated to.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Fiona said: “We’re a charity that doesn’t receive any state funding whatsoever, so we rely entirely on donations and fundraisers like this. This event means the world to us.

“When somebody dies from a brain tumour, it is not just the immediate family, it’s a whole community that is affected by that, and I think you can see that today with the turnout, the impact Lynne had on everybody she met, everybody that she played sports with and swam with, and all the things that she did.

“An event like this is just a real testament to that.”

An emotional Angela Algar wanted to thank the group who organised the swim, “especially JP O’Brien, Ken Whitelaw, Laura Bell, all the others, and our daughter Jenny”.

“It’s sad in one way, but we know she [Lynne] is out there with them, and also it honours her achievements in the water.”

David said Lynne loved the water: “She was always such an encouraging person to bring on children and anybody that had learned to swim – they thought the world of her.”

He said the swim was “a testament to Lynne, to see so many people here today and see the effort and all the work that everybody has put into it. And I just have to compliment Angela, my own wife, because she has put so much into it. She has actually put one of her paintings up for auction, and as I speak, there’s something like €2,500 already on one of her paintings.

“We’re so proud of Lynne, she achieved so much in her short life, in her 39 years, and she never gave up.”

David explained that Lynne had just become mother to her twins, Nuada and Aille, when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour: “They were six months, and she fought a tooth and nail for over five years. Each time, she’d pick herself up and go again. She got some severe knockbacks, and had two major operations, but she never, ever stopped. She kept adjusting her work and her workload to what she was able to do. And of course, towards the end, it was diminishing all the time, but she stayed with it and never gave up until her last breath. She was just an incredible person.”

Fiona from Brain Tumour Ireland added an important statistic to help highlight the importance of the charity swim: “Brain tumours kill more young people and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, and we need to do better with research, to affect better outcomes for brain tumour patients.

“Research is part of our remit, so we need the funds, and the funds raised today will go towards that. We are funding research in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland at the moment, and all these fundraisers and people who donate to us are contributing to that.”

Lynne’s sister Niamh, an accomplished actor, was present at the swim but didn’t take part as she is on a tight schedule filming in Belfast. She praised the atmosphere at the event and the energy generated when people come together. She’s delighted that the auction for Angela’s painting is going well and added: “Thank you to everyone who has supported Swim4Lynne and continued to help us honour my sister – JP O’Brien, who’s been fantastic in organising, and my sister Jenny, who’s has really kept this event going. I’m very proud of her.”

Thanks and results

On behalf of the organising team JP O’Brien expressed gratitude to his colleagues and all involved with the event: “We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the Swim for Lynne at Lough Owel such a special and unforgettable event.

“A sincere thank you to the Algar family, Ken Whitelaw, Laura Bell, Robbie O’Connor, Angela and Jenny Algar, Midland Tri Club, and to everyone who helped, supported, organised, donated, or attended. The day simply could not have happened without your kindness and effort.

“We are overwhelmed with emotion and deeply grateful to every one of you. Seeing so many people come together in Lynne’s memory was incredibly moving. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much. Today was everything we could have hoped for and more. Roll on Swim4Lynne 2027.”

Seventy-five people did the main event (adults), and approximately 38 kids did the splash and dash, which was 200m. Conditions were very choppy so that was huge achievement for the little ones. The organisers gave them the opportunity to turn at the 50m mark, which would have been 100m in all, but none of them took the easy way out – they were all determined to do the 200m.

Conor Hughes won the men’s and Liz Carr won the ladies, both retaining their titles for third year running. Conor Gammell was the boys winner in an almost photo finish with Bradley Duffy in second, and Aoibhe Martin was the girls winner. Both are Mullingar Jets swimmers.