Swimmers can dream, can’t they? They are celebrities in their own right, no? How great would it be in the iconic Sandycove Island were purchased by a swimmer or a consortium of swimmers?
Among Hollywood stars, Mel Gibson owns Mago Island in Fiji while Robin Williams owns Pender Harbor in the colder realm of British Columbia in Canada. Johnny Depp owns Little Hall’s Pond Cay in the Bahamas, similar to Julie Roberts’ own island also in the Bahamas. Steven Spielberg owns his own paradise island in Portugal while Leonardo DiCaprio owns an island on the other side of the Atlantic off the coast of Belize.
And now the iconic Sandycove Island is up for sale, reportedly at an extreme discount from its last sale according to knowledgeable sources. Will a celebrity swimmer step up to the plate and submit a bid for the island?
Besides its raw beauty of 18 acres, it is one of the world’s greatest gathering points of hard-core channel aspirants, endurance athletes and marathon swimmers and site of the renowned Cork Distance Week led by International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame inductee Ned Denison. The uninhibited island without buildings or infrastructure functions as one large natural turn buoy for those who frequent its cool waters along its 1.6 km loop course.
According to Irish Examiner, the island was last sold in the mid-2000s for more than €1 million.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.