The annual Galway Bay Swim, held in memory of the late Frances Thornton, has raised €1.8 million for Cancer Care West since it was first held in 2006.  Frances’s son Kevin is the driving force behind the swim. He and his sisters Fiona and Claire explain how it’s evolved over 20 years and how their mother would be so proud of its achievements.

Kevin Thornton has a very clear memory of the 13km crossing that became the first Galway Bay swim named after his mother, Frances.

“It was a pretty gnarly day, and there was a small boat warning,” he says.

“Only that Barry Heskin of Galway RNLI knew we were experienced swimmers, he would have called it off,” he says.

Kevin and his friends Ronan Collins and Simon Flatley had kept the planning “pretty tight”, and with minimal publicity.

It was 2006, and his mother had been diagnosed with cancer the year before.

“She had had her surgery, was in treatment and had met lots of patients who had benefited from the work of Cancer Care West (CCW),” Kevin  says.

“So once she knew what we were doing, she asked if there was any chance we could raise some money for CCW,” he recalls.

Kevin and his friends had grown up in the water together through their training with Galway Swimming Club.

They were aware that Corrib Waterpolo had run a bay swim during the 1980s, and were keen to revive it.

“ When Frances and Ronan’s mum Judy overheard them, they rallied around the lads,” Kevin’s father, Brian, says.

“From sourcing donations of Lucozade and energy bars from the Centra in Salthill to tapping Colleran’s Butchers for burgers and sausages, they contacted everyone they knew and everyone pitched in.”

Such were the conditions on that day in 2006 that Barry Heskin enlisted several larger vessels for support.  The trio started out together from Aughinish on the Clare side of the bay.

“Ronan did it in three hours, I was around three hours 30 minutes, and Simon came in after us – he was the only one of us in a wetsuit and got thrown around a lot by the conditions, which knocked him back,” Kevin explains.

“I remember I had talked to Ralph O’Gorman, who reported on sport for Galway Bay FM, several days before,” Kevin says.

“He rang me that Sunday, the day after the swim, to say he presumed it hadn’t gone ahead because of the weather. He was really surprised that we had done it!”

The trio raised €3,000 and the following year there were eight athletes, along with Kevin and friends. On that occasion, a total of €16,000 was raised for CCW.

Those first few bay swims finished at Palmer’s Rock, and Kevin’s mum was there to congratulate him on the shore for the first two. She passed away on April 21, 2008, and from then on it became an annual event named in her memory.

Kevin (41), who is a father of two young children and works in marketing in North Carolina, USA, says his mother would be immeasurably proud at how it has grown and how much it is now earning for CCW.

About €1.8 million has been raised over the past 20 years for the charity that provides professional community-based practical and emotional support services, free of charge, to anyone affected by cancer. This year’s event, on July 19, is already booked out with 170 people signed up.

There are 59 solo swimmers and 35 relay teams. One-hundred participants are signed up for the relay teams, which can consist of two, three or four members, with one member of a team being in the water at any time.

Pictured:  Fiona, Kevin and Claire Thornton at Blackrock, the finishing point of the annual Galway Bay Swim for Cancer Care West, which has been held in in memory of their mother, Frances since her death in April 2008.
PHOTO: KEVIN BYRNE.