A MAN who swam the 500km from Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland to Tramore in Co Waterford – the equivalent of swimming the English Channel 16 times – is fundraising to make a movie about the mammoth task.
Alan Corcoran believes his charity sea swim has all the hallmarks of a fascinating documentary and filmed the entire journey, including the highs and lows of the challenge.
With the stunning backdrop of Ireland’s wild coastline, the film will explore Alan’s journey through grief and using the swimming project to channel the negative emotions into a worthwhile extraordinary adventure.
This week Alan launched a Kickstarter crowd funding drive to finance the independent movie, titled Unsinkable, which will show his journey in a compelling 52 minutes.
Documentary maker Emagine plans to enter Unsinkable in as many national and international film festivals as possible to encourage support for stroke and cancer charities.
Alan’s post-challenge studio interview with Emagine, recounting his experience, will drive the narrative, as well as an interview with his big brother, Evan.
This professional footage is further supplemented by numerous insightful and candid self-shot pieces to camera with both Alan and his girlfriend and support kayaker - Karolina - as they progress through the challenges together.
Alan’s back story is his close relationship with his father, Milo. When Milo suffered a stroke in 2011, this shock was the catalyst that caused the chain of extraordinary events to unfold. Alan – an inexperienced distance runner – responded to the crisis by running 35 marathons in 35 consecutive days to raise €15,000 for stroke and sporting charities.
When Alan’s Dad lost his short battle with cancer in 2016, Alan’s reaction was to channel his grief into something constructive in his dad’s honour – and it turned out to be the swim of ‘the length of Ireland’ – 500 kilometres in the freezing sea in aid of charity. Alan completed the task in July 2019, when 100 swimmers signed up and paid to partake in his final lengths.
He told The Southern Star that the challenge came with many specific hurdles.
‘I was stung in the face by a lion’s mane jellyfish, which wasn’t so bad in the context of the thousands upon thousands of jellyfish I swam over,’ he said. ‘I complained about it to my girlfriend Karolina, my support kayaker, and she asked if I was going to get out of the water so. I said “no” and she replied by saying “Stop complaining, then, and keep swimming!”.’
Alan swam in wild conditions around Rathlin Sound, finishing the swim early as gale force 8 conditions rolled in. ‘We had to make an unplanned escape to Rathlin Island for protection from the storm. It was unique swimming conditions to swim in the deep, cold, rough and tumble of stormy waters you otherwise wouldn’t dream off, made possibly only by the skilled volunteer support crew on hand on the guiding sailboat.’
He only had one ‘brush’ with an unknown, he said. ‘I swam in fear as my team jubilantly cheered about something big in the water off Dublin – four metres long they said. Not good for the nerves. We think it was the fin of a minke whale!’
To donate, see marathonman.co
