A Tipperary content creator has organised a Lough Derg swim to promote meeting new people.
The meet up, arranged and inspired by Clóda Scanlon’s love of cold water swimming, begins at 5.20pm this evening at WestLake Coffee, located in Two Mile Gate, Killaloe.
People will gather for hot drinks and socialising at the local coffee shop before heading to Lough Derg for a group swim or dip at 6pm.
Clóda documents some of the Premier’s most beautiful hikes and trails on her Instagram account, and recently has turned her attention to the county’s lakes.
She has amassed close to 19,000 followers on the app and told Tipp FM that she wants to use her following to bring local communities together.
“I’ve had my own page online for years, so I know I’ve built up quite a bit of a local community. During lockdown I was doing walks and hikes locally and recommending them. But more recently, since things have opened up a bit more, I’ve actually been getting into cold water swimming, and I’ve just been documenting that experience online. I found I only had one or two friends who were also interested in doing it, and who maybe weren’t always around when I was, and I was like, ‘I’d love it if there could be just something where other people could also join in’. So I just said, why not use my page to try and address that to people locally and see if there’s interest. And there is, so it’s great. ”
Clóda told Tipp FM she plans to keep the meet-ups in the Premier.
“I think I’ll do it maybe two or three times a month; different locations, maybe different things. So I might try the swimming or the paddle boarding for a while, and then maybe the next thing could be a hike or something like that. So it could take off into doing more things in the area to do and to get people outdoors. I’ll try my best to keep it Tipp, and if not, it’ll probably be Munster into Clare maybe, but mainly Tipp I’m going to try and do.”
Those attending who own water equipment are encouraged to bring it, and all are reminded to follow water safety guidelines.
If you are bringing children, please ensure they are supervised and extra care is taken when they are in the water.
The swim will still go ahead regardless of weather, unless it is unsafe to do so.
More information about the meet-up can be found on Clóda’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChiQ0vqMlIS/
