Swimmers ‘dip’ into Portnoo for yearly charity swim

THE fourth annual Making Waves for Cancer charity dip brought together a spirited crowd at Narin Beach, Portnoo, recently as the Tyrone Dippers plunged into the Atlantic Ocean for a meaningful cause.

Despite lashing rain and brisk winds, the event saw around 60 participants dive in, raising funds for Angel Wishes, a charity supporting children with cancer and their families.

Started by Strabane women Siobhan Doherty, Una Patton and Angie Porter McHugh, the annual event raises much needed funds for different cancer charities each year.

Angie Porter-McHugh, gave a rundown of the day.

“What a day!” she said. “It was a great turn out despite the bitter cold wind and lashing rain which did nothing to dampen people’s spirits; the craic was brilliant! We had Hugo Duncan cutting the tape and around 60 brave hardy souls made their way into the water. It was exhilarating!

“Afterwards my dad Denis presented everyone with their medal, kindly sponsored by Fountain Street, and we warmed up thanks to soup, sandwiches and the very talented Ciarrai Diver belting out a few tunes for everyone to sing and dance along. Thanks to Mary McDermott for providing the warm food and Mary Flanagan for her delicious traybakes. There were even people who registered for our dip but, due to circumstances, couldn’t make it so performed their dips at different locations. An amazing day with no casualties, except my phone unfortunately!”

Angie went on to express her immense pride at the Tyrone Dippers and every single person who braved the wild Atlantic Ocean and thanked them for making the day so special. Money is still pouring in from various quarters but Angie estimates, to date, that they were able to raise around £2,500.

Thoughts have already turned to next year’s dip with Angie urging people to ‘save the date’ for next November to get ‘freezin’ for a reason’.