Swimming Beyond Boundaries
A Journey of Self-Discovery and Limitless Courage
Running order for this event coming shortly.
MC Elaine Duggan
Bio
Elaine Duggan has worked in the media industry for more than 24 years as a journalist, news editor and on the features desk. She is the current Deputy Features Editor of The Echo and EchoLive.ie, a six-day print operation and a 24/7 online offering of local news, views, sport, features and entertainment. Elaine is also Editor of the paper’s Women on Wednesday (WoW!) supplement which marked its 20th anniversary in 2023. Over the past two decades, there have been more than 1,000 WoW! Supplements printed, providing more than 16,000 pages worth of exciting, informative, enjoyable content. Elaine has a Masters in journalism from the National University of Ireland Galway, a BA in English and Sociology from UCC and a Certificate in Digital Marketing from MTU.
Guest speaker - Nuala Moore
From the icy embrace of the Irish seas to the perilous currents of the Bering Strait and ultimately to the treacherous waters of Cape Horn, our Guest Speaker not only crossed physical distances but also the vast expanse of inner doubts and fears.
In 2017, facing a life at a crossroads, Nuala Moore embarked on a swim that was more than a test of physical endurance; it was a quest to confront herself, to find relevance and value in a rapidly changing world.
Through the most dangerous waters, Nuala swam from the Pacific to the Atlantic, not just conquering miles but also the shadows of self-doubt that loomed large from past achievements.
This presentation is more than a recounting of bold achievements; it is about the discovery of limitless courage within, the power of backing oneself against the odds, and the profound realisation that the greatest challenge and triumph lie in confronting our own reflection.
With vivid photos, videos and storytelling, Nuala will take you around the world from the Round Ireland Swim to the ice-cold embrace of the Artic and down to the southern most waters of Cape Horn.
Prepare to be inspired, to look within and to embark on your own journey towards the limitless potential that lies within each of us.
Bio
‘In life sometimes we can cover up for our weaknesses, but the minute you’re exposed to anything in the extremes you can’t. That’s why, sometimes, we go to the extremes – to meet the best version of ourselves. And every now and then, that is a wonderful place to be.’
The sea has always been a part of Nuala Moore’s life: her earliest memory is of jumping off her father’s trawler in Dingle harbour and swimming back to shore. Since then, she has swam in some of the coldest, remotest and most dangerous waters in the world, from the Bering Strait to the Drake Passage.
Nuala Moore is an Irish open water swimmer and an adventurer on a wider scale, cold water specialist mostly known for her extreme ice swims. She is an event organiser and mentor.
Over the last decade, Nuala has pushed the boundaries in some of the most dangerous icy waters and remote locations in the world. Nuala is self-coached, develops her own training plans for tackling the ice; forging a path into pushing human limits without coaches, focusing on what she believes is possible for herself. Pain was - and is - part of her journey. Also pushing to be the best version of herself.
Nuala holds two Guinness World Records for extreme cold-water swimming – the first for her part in the first and only international relay team to swim from Russia to the USA across the Bering Strait, and the second for her pioneering cold-water swim in the notorious Drake Passage, the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South
Shetland Islands of Antarctica. She is the first swimmer in the world to swim from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, the Drake passage, as well as being the first woman in the world to swim south of remote Cape Horn, Nuala is also the first Irish swimmer to complete 1000m @ 0 Degrees in 2013 and the 3rd woman in the world, she then set about creating standards and procedures on risk for both ice and marathon swimming.
The Round Ireland Swim in 2006 with the support of the Rescue Unit of the Sheephaven Sub Aqua Club, marine co-ordinators from Co Donegal, was a world first. Nuala with her five teammates swam around the island of Ireland, which tallied over 56 days and 720 nautical miles. This gruelling expedition of back-to-back immersions which included travelling up to 20-miles off-shore in 300m deep waters was undoubtedly one of the most courageous swims ever achieved in the world of open-water swimming. It was wonderful to be able to document this phenomenal achievement in the book, and allow the swim to recorded in history of open water swimming.
Nuala has been three times listed in the top 50 of the Most Adventurous Women in the World of Open water - 2015, 2017 and 2019, as well as being nominated in the top 12 on two occasions as the World Open Water Woman of the Year 2014 and 2016.
Red Bull recognised Nuala as one of Ireland’s most adventurous women in 2017 and the Lifesaving Foundation recognised Nuala with the Frank Golden Award for her work on water safety.
The Bering Strait Relay, swimming over six days in the world’s most remote freezing waters, was awarded the World Performance of the Year 2014 and labelled the most dangerous open water swim in the world.
Nuala through her adventures always worked on safety, risk assessments and developing standards of understanding the extremes. In 2018 she founded the Ocean Remote Recovery Rescue Emergency Care. This is an interagency initiative where all water users and rescue services come together to share and develop messaging to increase our water safety.
The Bering Strait Relay, swimming over six days in the world’s most remote freezing waters, was awarded the World Performance of the Year 2014 and labelled the most dangerous open water swim in the world.
Nuala through her adventures always worked on safety, risk assessments and developing standards of understanding the extremes. In 2018 she founded the Ocean Remote Recovery Rescue Emergency Care. This is an interagency initiative where all water users and rescue services come together to share and develop messaging to increase our water safety
The Bering Strait Relay, swimming over six days in the world's most remote freezing waters, was awarded the World Performance of the Year 2014 and labelled te most dangerous open water swim in the world.
Nuala through her adventures always worked on safety, risk assessments and developing standards of understanding the extremes. In 2018 she founded the Ocean Remote Recovery Rescue Emergency Care. This is an interagency initiative where all water users and rescue services come together to share and develop messaging to increase our water safety awareness.
Cape Horn swim book ends her memoirs and it is the concept of letting go and trusting ourselves. For Nuala life was always a balance of success and failure, of achievement and value and mostly loving the moments where we are on the edge of our own possible.
Owning our Swagger is our greatest challenge and gift to ourselves.
Nuala is a pioneer, a cold-water safety specialist, coach, mentor, and an incredible endurance swimmer who has pushed the boundaries for women in extreme sports. She is engaging, inspirational, motivational, and mostly unassuming – a normal person fighting the daily fight to be the best version of herself.
