On Saturday afternoon last we left the Dun Ængus dock in the pilot boat Nab, which had been loaned for the occasion by Captain Meskell, who would have accompanied Miss Gleitze on the swim had it not been that other duties compelled him to remain ashore. Those on board constituted the crew, with a couple of men to row the small boat, the observers and myself. A more cheery and courteous crew I have never met, and I shall never desire more unselfish or companionable Irishmen than the four observers and their junior, Mr Sean O’Beirne, whose love for the sea and whose handiness aboard made him indispensable on the Nab.

We laid on provisions for two days and one night and, with Lieutenant-Commander James Tierney in charge, set out for Kilronan. All was set for the great adventure – the conquest of Galway Bay by a long-distance swimmer who had established records in many lands and on many seas, was about to begin. For the first time in history the attempt was to be made to swim from the Islands of Aran to a point on the north shore as near as possible to Galway.

It was a tremendous adventure and we wondered during that trip up-bay whether it could ever be accomplished.

“One can never tell what may happen on a long swim like this over the ocean deeps” Miss Gleitze told me when later I interviewed her at Ganley’s Hotel, Kilronan. “I do not know the Bay, of course, and there are, I am told, strange currents off the Sound; but whatever happens, I shall do my very best. I am feeling quite rested, thank you, and am very well.”

This was the spirit in which this epic adventure was begun – a determination to conquer waters that were new to her, and a Bay which she had never seen until that afternoon. “It is a very beautiful Bay,” she said, “wide, and I should say, very safe. Indeed, it is as fine a stretch of sea as I have anywhere seen.”

The Start of the Swim – Sunday, 2 August 1931

There has been no more beautiful night on Galway Bay this year. A light north-westerly wind put the gentlest of ripples on the surface of the water, and these sparkled like living silver in the moonlight. At eleven o’clock, amidst a rousing cheer from a crowd of Kilronan villagers on the pier, the pilot boat Nab (loaned for the occasion by Captain Meskell), with Miss Gleitze, her husband and the observation party aboard, put off from Inishmore for Sandhead on Inishmaan [the middle island of the Aran group], from which it was determined during the afternoon to begin the swim. When the pilot boat arrived opposite Sandhead at Inishmaan shortly before midnight, a great crowd of islanders had gathered along the shore. Flares and torches were lighted directly the pilot boat hove in sight. Miss Gleitze was immediately landed in a row boat accompanied by her husband and Mr R. Jasper Kelly, State Solicitor, Galway, who acted as official time-keeper. She wore an ordinary bathing costume, and as is her custom, she did not wear a bathing cap.

Having stimulated her blood circulation by running along the sands, she took to the water at 12.34 a.m. amidst a thunderous cheer from the islanders which echoed along the shore and across the waters of the moonlit Bay. Wading for about four yards she immediately obtained depth and started off with a powerful trudgeon stroke, the cheering following her out to sea. After one hundred and fifty yards she broke into her favoured breast stroke which she used almost continuously throughout the swim. Soon she was lost to the view of those ashore and struck a course north-east. 

The decision to start from Innishmaan had been taken on the advice of Kilronan fishermen, but as it turned out, it actually added some miles to the distance to be covered. For the first hour and a half she drifted off course towards the South Island on the ‘fickle’ ebb tide, and thus appreciably lengthened her swim. Nevertheless, by 2 a.m. she had placed one and three-quarter miles between herself and her starting point. Shortly after 2 a.m. she gained the advantage of a flowing tide, and by morning this had brought her back to a point opposite the middle island.  

A light north-westerly wind freshened up somewhat at this period and died down again. At times the men in the observation boat had considerable difficulty in locating Miss Gleitze in the half moonlight and only kept in touch with her by frequent hails. 

The Sleepless Dawn

Undoubtedly the most trying and critical period of the great adventure was passed through in the hours immediately preceding the dawn. Although the temperature of the water remained constant at just over sixty degrees, Miss Gleitze seemed to suffer cold and abdominal pains. At intervals of about half-an-hour she was given hot soup and occasionally hot milk. This, and very limited quantities of pastry with a little white of egg, constituted her sustenance throughout the swim.

Her greatest enemy throughout the early hours of the morning was the desire to fall asleep, which at times almost conquered an indomitable will. Although Miss Gleitze had reposed as much as possible in bed before the swim, she had slept little, and although her husband took all the details of the preparation off her shoulders, she insisted upon being consulted at frequent intervals. Moreover, she had to undergo the fatigue of the journey to Kilronan on the day of the swim. This, combined with the eerie experience of starting out in the dead of night from an island shore at the mouth of Galway Bay on a twenty-hour swim, a great part of which would be against the tide, had its effect; and as the first scarlet streamers of dawn lent warmth to the grey atmosphere of the Bay, it was a somewhat pathetic figure that swam almost mechanically. When it was suggested that she should come out of the water, immediately her lethargy left her and she protested most vigorously.

As the sun rose, however, her cheeriness and good spirits returned. She swam gaily under the oars of the row boat and trudgeoned across to the pilot boat to be photographed. As the morning wore on her physical powers seemed to gain something of their earlier strength and when the tide began to ebb she managed to hold her course admirably and decided to make towards the Spiddal, on the north shore, so that her progress could be marked by the land. At 12.30 Miss Gleitze was eight miles from Spiddal, having swum approximately eighteen miles in twelve hours, allowing for the drift to south and then to north.

Impressive Devotional Scenes

At noon, boats of the Aran fishing fleet joined the swimmer in mid Bay and dropped their jib sails in salute. The pilot boat acknowledged with her siren, and as Miss Gleitze raised her hand above her head there were encouraging cheers from the trawler crews. The islanders, the crews informed us, had offered up their prayers that morning for the success of the swim. At 10 a.m. the crews and observers on board the row boat and the pilot boat joined together in reciting the Rosary, the devotional scene being particularly impressive on the still waters of the Bay. Miss Gleitze also joined in the devotions.

Curraghs from some of the Aran trawlers accompanied Miss Gleitze for a brief period before rejoining their trawlers, and exchanged encouraging remarks with her. During the swim Miss Gleitze had some trouble from jelly fish which occasionally stung her. A huge sunfish accompanied her for a part of the journey, but a great school of purpoises went in the opposite direction into Kilronan Harbour. “Porpoises”. Miss Gleitze told me, “often swim under me within half an inch, without touching me.”

It is interesting to note that, with the exception of grease applied before starting, and a little olive oil, Miss Gleitze does not use cosmetics of any kind. During the heat of the morning she utilised a hankerchief on her head as protection. 

As we neared the coastline of Inverin about three o’clock in the afternoon, crowds of curraghs put out from the shore and accompanied the swimmer. Over a score of these light craft surrounded her for a considerable period.

Towards four o’clock Miss Gleitze swam close inshore off Castle Point, and although she was swimming on a flowing tide, her progress for a time became very slow. Then at 4.25 p.m., after nearly 15 hours of continuous swimming, she again spurted, using the trudgeon and breast strokes alternately.

Shortly after five o’clock Miss Gleitze had almost reached the point of exhaustion. She battled bravely on, however, hugging the coastline along which hundreds of spectators ashore and afloat followed her progress. At that point it was realised that she would soon be fighting against a powerful ebb tide for another six hours, and so at 7.17 1/5 p.m., at Awleen Bay, when just under the schoolhouse at Knock, and within two miles from Spiddal, she touched land for the first time. She fell backwards in the water, crept in on her hands, and ultimately rolled ashore onto dry land, having been in the water for 18 hours and 43 minutes. 

The Landing

Mr J.J. Ward, the President of the Galway Chamber of Commerce, motored to Inverin at 6 a.m., again at 9 a.m., again at 1 p.m. and finally at 3 p.m. He also visited Oranmore where he brought supplies for the aviator. Mr J.G. Browne, the secretary, accompanied Mr Ward on the 8 o’clock trip. When Miss Gleitze touched ground at 7.17 p.m., Lord Killanin and his mother, learning that certain requirements were needed, came to the shore with them, Mr Ward having gone to the house previously. 

After leaving the water Mercedes was taken in a boat to a point at Knock, and was attended by Dr R. Bodkin Mahon of Galway, who had been touring along the shore to witness the swim. Afterwards she was carried for over half a mile across the bolder-strewn country to the public road by Sergeant Morrisroe of Galway, Guard Crowley, her husband, and other willing helpers. She was placed in Mr Ward’s car, and was driven immediately to the Royal Hotel, Galway.

The observers throughout the swim were Lieutenant-Commander Tierney, Mr R.J. Kelly, Mr R.B. Kinneen, Mr George W Smythe and Mr Sean O’Beirne, who took to the small boat in relays. Miss Gleitze’s husband remained in the row boat almost continuously, and he, Mr Smythe and Mr Kelly played a gramophone which was set up on a box astern. 

The actual distance from Inishmaan to Awleen Bay in a straight line is approximately 19 miles, but because of her zig zag course it was estimated that Miss Gleitze had covered at least 40 miles.