Mayo woman scoops four national awards for Irish channel swim heroics

There was no shortage of Mayo pride during the glitz and glamour in the Lakeside Hotel Killaloe, Clare this week, as one of Mayo’s greatest ever long-distance swimmers was honoured with four awards at the Irish Long Distance Swimming Association’s award ceremony.

Last year, Carol Commons from Killala was honoured with the Jimmy Cranney Connacht swimmer award at the event, which was held in The Carrickdale Hotel in Louth.

READ MORE: 'We had the Mayo flag' - the story behind one woman's historic Channel swim

Since then, she has gone on a history-making journey, becoming the first person from Connacht to swim across the North Channel between Ireland and England.

The Kilcummin Swimming Club woman completed the Herculean 34-kilometre endeavour on Sunday, August 17, 2025.

She had failed previously in 2023 and 2024, but that day, there were scenes of jubilation in Port Patrick, Scotland, after she traversed the choppy waters between there and Larne.

Those achievements were honoured in style at the event in Clare.

Commons made it back-to-back in the Jimmy Cranny-Connacht Swimmer of the Year, backing it up with the Irish Triple Crown, the ILDSA Mercedes Gleitze Award (for enduring the most difficult circumstances during a North Channel swim), and a separate award for completing the North Channel swim.

“Each of these means so much to me, but together they represent a journey that tested me in every possible way, physically, mentally, and emotionally,” Commons reminisced, “The North Channel especially will stay with me forever.”

A huge thank you to everyone who supported me along the way: my family, friends, crew, and the incredible swimming community. And a very special thank you to my coach, whose belief in me, even when I doubted myself, made all the difference.”