Paula plunged past her Coldtober target

With more than €2,600 raised in her 31-day Coldtober Challenge of taking a swim every day in the Liffey at Carnalway, Paula Kavanagh comfortably exceeded her target, writes Brian Byrne. She was also the top individual fundraiser in the Challenge to support Helplink Mental Health.

'Comfortably' may not be quite the right description, because the river was most definitely cold. But she told the Diary this week during a Woodbine Books event that she misses her daily plunge now that the country-wide challenge is over. (Donations can still be made here.) 

"There's an adrenaline rush that I miss," she says. "There's something about going completely under the water in the cold that has an effect. It's exhilarating — no matter how tired or stressed I felt before I went in, when I came out I was absolutely ready for anything." She says there's a 'sweet spot' length of time to get the best effect of a cold-water swim in winter. "It's somewhere around three minutes before it all kicks in, but it's so worth it."

Nationally, more than €89,000 was raised for Helpline Mental Health in this year's Coldtober. The charity's mission is to provide accessible, free or low cost mental health services locally, nationally and internationally, 7 days a week and out–of–hours, with counselling, information and education the three pillars of its work.

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