Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2019/08/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Here are some images from the Liffey Swim - a 2.2 kilometre race that for the past 100 years has made its way down the river Liffey as it passes through the centre of Dublin on its way to the Irish Sea. As the river is not exactly the cleanest place to swim, although it is the most iconic, the races are held when the tide is high, and thus pollution is minimised. An old joke goes "How many prizes are there in the Liffey Swim? First Prize, Second Prize, and everybody in the race gets the Turd Prize". There are two separate races for men and women as the races are handicaps and can become a bit of a melee passing under the twelve bridges on the course. With the handicapping system, the slowest go first, and the fastest last, so the aim is to have all the swimmers arriving at the finish line at the Customs House together. While such a scenario never actually happens, this can create a problem going under those bridges where the span is made up of narrow and low arches. Legs and arms trash in the competitive frenzy. Goggles and swim hats can be kicked off in the scrum, and it's not unheard of to hear of displaced dentures sinking to the bottom. While I did triathlons myself back in the '80s which involved long sea swims, I have never done the Liffey Swim, but as a 70 year old finished third at the weekend, maybe there's still time :-) I haven't even been spectating at the Swim for fifty years as the last time I saw it was in the summer of '69 when I was working in Webbs bookshop on the quays, so my knowledge of its photographic vantage points was limited. As I had put my Pentax adapter in a safe place I couldn't use the 200mm lens and had to use my Sonnar 55mm f1.8 to get max sharpness. Here are some images from the day. Click on The Liffey Swim in this album http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/DouglasBray/Sport/ Douglas who found the Pentax adapter almost as soon as I got home...