This article is from page 14 of the 2006-02-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
WHEN your roots are firmly grounded on the Loop Head peninsula, water is never far from your mind and the next parish always means the Americas.
It can be said to be especially true where Paul Gleeson is concerned – a Limerickman who is the son of Loop Head woman Lourdes Keating, from Cross village.
Gleeson is now resting up after the mammoth journey and achievement in rowing across the Atlantic with his girlfriend Tori Holmes.
They battled through 2,550 nautical miles to get to the finish, arriving in the Caribbean island of Antigua last Thursday morning (11 am on Wednesday, Irish time), 86 days after they set off from the Canary Islands.
After reaching land for 13 position in the race, he told The Clare People “it is hard to put into words how happy the two of us are.
“Coming in this morning just after first light was so surreal. Both our families were there. We were looking forward to this for the best part of two months, it was so unbelievable when it happened. We are just smiling from ear to ear,” he added.
The couple, who met in Australia, had no rowing experience before deciding to take part in the mammoth expedition in aid of Concern. They hope to raise €25,000 for the Third World charity. Two years ago Gleeson cycled across Australia for charity.
This successful crossing gave 29-year-old Gleeson the distinction of being the youngest ever Irishman to cross the Atlantic. He is the first cousin of former Clare football captain Barry Keating, while his uncle Gabriel Keating is a former chairman of the Clare Football Board.
The boat they used was given to them by the Kavanagh brothers of Arklow, who also crossed the Atlantic successfully in it in a previous race. Among the highlights of the trip was being tracked by a Sperm whale, while the lowlights included a freak wave which knocked Tori off the boat.
The Atlantic Rowing Race was first staged in 1995 and first hit the headlines this year when Irish pair Ciarán Lewis and Gearóid Towey were dramatically rescued, when they hit trouble in a storm 1,400 miles from Antigua.