Fergal Somerville

Swimmer

Fergal Somerville would be the one of five in the Hall to have accomplished both the North and English Channels and in faster times:  12:40 and 12:21. In addition, his North Channel swim set the record for the earliest swim.  He has pioneered two marathons in the Aran Islands:   Inis Meáin to Connemara (14km) and Round Inis Meáin (12km) and two marathons in Dublin Howth to Skerries (26km) and Dublin Bay Two-Way (15Km Dun Laoghaire – Howth - Dun Laoghaire).

Other marathons include Cork to Cobh (16km); Lough Sheelin (15km) in 2010, 2011 and 2012; and Cleggan to Inis Bofin.

Over more than a decade Fergal has earned the respect of the sport and acquired the nickname “The Channimal”.

Fergal is a contributing figure in Ireland marathon and extreme swimming:  crewed for many marathoners in both the Channels and major Ireland swims , hosted many visiting international marathoners to Dublin, organised 7 years of ice swimming and appeared in several televised documentaries:  ‘Get Off the Couch’ as mentor of swimming to participants on the programme and ‘ExTreme’ which focuses on six extreme sports.