The weather conditions were almost perfect for the 2022 swim with light wind and warm temperatures – both sea and air. Compass jellyfish were visible in the water when swimmers were leaving the beach at Aughinish but once deeper waters were reached, they were less noticeable. With a spring high tide of 5.0 m and very light wind, this resulted in the strong tidal flow out of the bay making it challenging for swimmers to make progress, particularly for the second half of the swim. The tide eased from 1.00 pm onwards as it reached the low water mark.
125 swimmers crossed Galway Bay, (44 solo swimmers, 25 relay teams (81 relay team swimmers).
- Date: July 16th, 2022
- Swim Start Time: 8.30 am (Wave 1), 9.00 am (Wave 2), 09.30 am (Wave 3), 10.00 am (Wave 4)
- Wind Direction: South Easterly veering South Westerly during the swim
- Wind Speed: Force 1-2 (5 – 8 Km/h) – almost flat calm conditions on the bay
- Wave Height: 0.25 metres
- Air Temperature: 16oC – 21 oC
- Sea Temperature: 19oC
- Weather:
- High Tide: 08.00 am (5.0m)
- Low Tide: 01:50 pm (0.9m)
- Tidal Range: 4.1m
- Wind and Wave Height, Air and Sea Water Temperature from Irish Lights Spiddal wave buoy (https://www.digitalocean.ie/Dashboard/Galway)