'I'll swim the Irish sea...no matter what!': Boyzone singer Ronan Keating tells how he faced up to his phobia of waterBy Ronan Keating
27th August 2011
In this diary of his training for a charity challenge, Boyzone singer Ronan Keating tells how he faced up to his phobia of water
JULY 27On holiday in Los Angeles with my wife Yvonne and our three children. I can’t relax, though, as I have to find somewhere to start my swimming training.
I’ve agreed to be one of a ten-strong relay team including Sir Richard Branson, singer Jenny Frost and Billy Connolly’s wife Pamela Stephenson, to start swimming across the Irish Sea on August 31 – this Wednesday – depending on the weather conditions.
We hope to raise £1 million for Cancer Research UK and The Marie Keating Foundation, which I founded in memory of my mother, who died from breast cancer.
I love being by the water, but not necessarily in it.
And it’s true to say that the tranquil Pacific Ocean in Malibu, where I am right now, bears no resemblance to the freezing cold waters and strong currents – not to mention jellyfish – I will soon be facing.
You see, I’m not the best of swimmers. I can do the crawl and breaststroke and am fine splashing around with the children, but I hate putting my face down in the water – which obviously one must do to swim properly.
It makes me panic. I get it into my head that I will swallow water and go under. So I start gasping for breath and flail around.
To overcome this a friend recommends that I enlist Mike Lewis, an American trainer who has been an outdoor swimmer for three decades and has coached Olympians in this sport, to help me.
AUGUST 3Mike explains that we humans are not designed to be in water – it’s not our natural terrain and this is why we often have problems breathing correctly when swimming. You’re telling me, I reply.
To address my phobia (yes, apparently I have a phobia of water), we will be training for two hours every weekday in the Olympic-size municipal pool at Santa Monica before going back to the UK.
To get me used to the cold, I’ll be swimming in the North Sea in Scotland, as I’ll be there for a Boyzone summer show. I’ll also train in the Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park. Can’t wait.
am also jogging for an hour a day and working out hard in the gym to improve my endurance.
Mike gives me a snorkel, which feels rather strange, and I won’t be wearing it on the actual swim. It’s just so I can safely get used to putting my face in the water and learn to breathe regularly.
Fear causes physiological changes, such as the tightening of muscles and increased heart and respiration rate, all of which exacerbate breathing problems. Wearing it, I feel more confident and take even breaths as I swim by turning my head from side to side. It’s actually quite easy.
To give me more confidence, Mike tells me to roll on to my back in the pool and inhale deeply so my lungs fill with air. The extra air helps to make me buoyant and I can see that this is happening. Now I know I won’t sink, even if I stop paddling.
By the end of the week Mike says that he is pleased with my progress but I’ve started having nightmares about being in a pool or floating in the sea looking up at the stars. All is fine, but then I start struggling and feel that I am drowning and wake up in a cold sweat.
AUGUST 10I’m seriously concerned. Boyzone played in Edinburgh last week and I took the opportunity to see what swimming in really cold water will be like. The North Sea is about 10C at this time of year, similar to the Irish Sea. How does it feel? Freezing.
Without my coach I inch my way in, shivering uncontrollably. Every part of my being wants to go back to land, but I persevere. I’m determined to do my bit for charity. Eventually I push forwards and immerse myself. The shock of the cold is enormous, almost like burning, but I’m surprised how quickly I get used to it.
The Irish Sea is 56 miles wide from Holyhead in Anglesey to Dublin, three times the width of the English Channel at its narrowest point. Each of us is supposed to swim for an hour at a time during the challenge with a four to five-hour break between.
A whole hour? I tell myself that by hook or by crook I’m going to do it. I will swim until I really cannot do any more. I know that there will be plenty of back-up with boats, doctors and experts to monitor us and help if we get into trouble.
AUGUST 17Time has flown by. I thought I had loads of it and the breathing is still a worry.
Yvonne thinks I’m mad and the children are getting scared for me. Back in London, it’s raining. But the water in the Serpentine is a balmy 18C, much warmer than the sea. Still, it’s pretty miserable and I reluctantly jump in. It’s not that bad really and soon I feel warmer in the water than out of it. I’m wearing a wetsuit which obviously helps. Alongside extra insulation it gives me buoyancy, which is helping to ease my nerves. But then I start to worry – how long before hypothermia sets in? I manage a respectable ten minutes before running out to dry off.
Apparently, David Walliams didn’t wear a wetsuit when he swam the English Channel because they are against Channel Swimming Association rules. He covered himself in goose fat, which is more to stop chafing around the neck, under-arms and between the legs than for keeping warm. I feel pretty lucky in comparison.
Also, the Serpentine may be cold but there’s no salt in it. I’ve heard that swimming for any length of time in the sea causes your tongue to swell when you take in salty water and I don’t fancy the idea of that.
Vaseline on the lips is said to help as it traps the salt. Now for the next two weeks it’s crucial that I swim in the sea every day.
AUGUST 24It’s nearly time. I’ve been doing plenty of training in various pools, and the sea in Dublin. I’ve managed to get my head around the breathing, working with a specialist trainer, Simon Murie from SwimTrek, the swimming holiday operators, in Holyhead.
Weirdly, I’m starting to enjoy the cold, and I’m getting used to wearing two swimming caps to keep my head warm.
Swimming in open water has really helped me acclimatise and I’m able to go for longer periods of up to
45 minutes at a time.I’m getting nervous looking a week ahead when I’ll be waiting with everyone else for suitable weather conditions to arrive so that we are able to do the swim. It’s been mind over matter, and I’m feeling pretty confident. I’ll do the best I can – there’s no backing down now.
*Donations welcome to: the-swim.co.uk, mariekeating.ie, swimtrek.com
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Sujet: Ronan Keating to swim in Irish Sea charity 01.09.2011 
Mar 22 Mar - 19:41
mais c fous comme on peut se ressembler 
je suis trop fière de ma crevette malgré sa phobie il c(est jeté a l'eau tj prés pour
