A Derry man is taking on the freezing North Atlantic Ocean to raise vital funds for addiction services.
Martin Ward, a member of the ARC community and sober for the past 16 months, has decided to swim from Rathmullan Beach to Buncrana Pier to raise funds for the "fantastic" group that has helped him through this past year.
ARC Fitness was founded by Gary Rutherford, a registered mental health nurse and qualified personal trainer, in 2019 after a 15-year battle with addiction.
The not-for-profit group supports those with substance use disorders to achieve healthy and sustainable recovery through physical activity, professional support, and re-connection with community.
Joining Martin on the 4.5 mile sea swim on Saturday, August 28, is his son-in-law Shane O'Shea – and the pair of them are taking on Co Donegal's Lough Swilly without wetsuits.
Speaking to MyDerry, Martin said: "The support from ARC has been fantastic. With covid you couldn't meet up and do the classes a lot of the time, so they did online things for you.
"There was always someone there if anyone needed help, they could just throw it on Facebook and you'll get people from throughout the group coming to help.
"There's 24-hour support there. It doesn't have to be from the people who organise the group, anyone who's been through it can offer support and advice.
"Through ARC I've learnt the need for challenging yourself. Exercise is really good for your mental health. In January or February I thought about this, and it's a challenge to get into the cold water two or three times a week and do your training, then do a 4.5 mile sea swim."
Martin worked at local leisure centres for 32 years, and managed local swimming pools up until his retirement eight years ago.
He began lifeguarding as a teenager, after witnessing a tragic incident at the reservoir his father worked at when he was just 13.
He continued: "The youngest you could do the lifeguard training was 14, so I did it then. My father encouraged me and my brother to do it after that happened. I worked for 32 years at council lesiure centres, as a lifeguard and moving up to management.
"I'm a qualified swimming instructor myself so have taught thousands of people to swim over the years."
Martin has been a keen sea swimmer for years, first doing the Rathmullan to Buncrana swim over 20 years ago, with the last time he swam the route being 11 years ago.
He believes there's nothing quite like swimming in the sea, as it allows you to have great peace of mind.
"It's all about getting yourself into the water, feeling the cold, challenging yourself," he continued.
"The cold is good because you can't focus on anything else. When you hit the water you can't go forward or back in your head, you're here, you're now, and it's freezing. It brings the mind to being right there, you can't focus on anything else other than trying to get your breath.
"I've done the swim before, last time I did it was 11 years ago, the time before that was 10 years before, so I've sporadically done it. I've done it from an hour and a half up until a time when a storm kicked in and it was about three hours."
You can donate to Martin and Shane's fundraiser for ARC Fitness by clicking here.
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