Fergal hopes to beat dive record

Fergal hopes to beat dive record

17 April 2013

A PORTAFERRY-based student is planning to spend a record-breaking 24 hours underwater in Strangford Lough to raise money for charity.

Queen’s University PhD marine biology student Fergal Glynn plans to break the world record for the longest cold water scuba dive to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Marine Conservation Society, the Ulster Wildlife Trust and the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group.

This Saturday at 6pm he will dive near the wreck of the Empress Tana in Ballyhenry Bay, close to Portaferry. He will be assisted by support divers, including members of the Queen’s Sub Aqua Club and the scuba diving specialists, DV Diving

The kind-hearted Dubliner started scuba diving in warm water during a holiday when he was ten years old. He took his first dive off Ireland in 2004 and has been hooked ever since.

Fergal said: “I got this idea some time ago but everybody was trying to calm me down and keep me from doing it. A great deal of it is organisational and a large amount of that has been done by other people in the club.

“A lot of companies have sponsored equipment — we need very specialist equipment for this. For example we needed a diving platform so we bought some scaffolding and will erect a platform just under water. To break the record you have to dive deeper than six meters for 20 minutes and then you can’t break the surface for 24 hours.

“There will be people running cameras and compressing air into cylinders. St. John’s Ambulance will be there and there will be people liaising between all those groups.

“My challenge will be to sit there all this time and, if I get cold, try to keep my mind off it. This will be worthwhile. It’s the biggest event the sub aqua club has ever undertaken.

“We are hoping to gather friends and family, to challenge our diving skills and raise funds for marine charities, while having loads of fun in the process.”

You can visit the dive site and watch live on Ustream. Donations can be made on Fergal’s accounts on justgiving.com and mycharity.ie.