Not even an ugly bout of sea sickness could halt the charge of big-hearted swimmer Brendan Neil in his determined 22km quest to raise money for charity.
The 50-year-old was among about 200 people to take part in the annual Island Charity Swim, but he covered twice the regular distance.
He started before dawn and endured some testing swell as he went from Mooloolaba to Mudjimba Island and back, in about 7hr20min.
“It was fantastic … I’m really glad to have done it,” he said after helping to raise funds for three Sunshine Coast special schools.
Like stories about Sunshine Coast people doing great things? Help us deliver more by registering for our free daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email. See SUBSCRIBE at the top of this article
“It was great to tick it off, but I did get seasick quite a lot out there.
“That made it difficult with nutrition, trying to stay fuelled and hydrated.
“I just felt like I was rolling everywhere, and I felt like I was just slamming my head when it was choppy.”
Mr Neil is an experienced long-distance swimmer, but sea sickness has been his biggest challenge.
“I’ll continue to work on that,” he said.
His extreme effort was also hampered when his support crew had difficulties.
“We got a couple of kilometres from Old Woman Island (Mudjimba Island) and the jet ski conked out,” he said.
“We had to drift for about 20 minutes, until we got it started again. It (the tide) took us out into the ocean a fair way and we were a bit behind schedule.”
But it was all worth it for Mr Neil, who was greeted by excited beachgoers when he finished.
He’s eager to do more for the schools.
“This (effort) is a step for what I want to do in the future,” he said.
Mr Neil wants to produce a video about the Island Charity Swim and is eager to complete another challenging swim later in the year, to raise awareness about the event.
“The charity swim was cancelled last year (due to COVID) and there were fewer entrants than usual this year, maybe because there is still some uncertainty around events,” he said.
“So there has been less fundraising and there are now three schools (Nambour, Currimundi and newcomer Palmview).
“So, I’d like to put something together that catches the history of the swim and gives it a voice.
Follow Sunshine Coast News on Facebook.
“We could use it to promote the event and get more people involved.”
He’s not sure what sort of swim he will do later in the year.
“But I’ll think of something and get it (the video) together before the end of the year.”
Mr Neil has already accomplished some staggering endurance efforts, including swimming the 11km island course 10 times in 10 days.
He has also run from Noosa to Caloundra with a swim around the island.
He said the annual charity swim “is a big help” to the special schools.
It has previously helped them get electronic interactive whiteboards, funds toward the building of the Currimundi Hydro-Therapy Pool centre, tactile outdoor playgrounds and a sensory stimulus room.
Event organiser Jason Crowther said swimmers raised about $40,000 this year.
“That’s a bit down from previous years but still a really good result. Credit to the guys who did participate,” he said.
“The funds help provide equipment that they (the schools) probably couldn’t buy otherwise, for learning and for play.
“It’s a big injection for them and they obviously need it, because they didn’t get it last year.”
Help keep independent and fair Sunshine Coast news coming by subscribing to our free daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email. See SUBSCRIBE at the top of this article.
He expected next year’s swim to be bigger.
“The goal is to get $100,000 of fundraising for the event,” he said.
The swimmers start at Mudjimba Beach, swim around Mudjimba Island and head south to Mooloolaba.
Carl Perkins was the first male and Paige Moorehead was the first female to finish the 11km swim.
