Book Details Record-Setting Swim Around Island

October 3, 2017

Former Bermuda College mathematics professor Dr. Seán O’Connell has written a book about his record-setting two-day swim around Bermuda in 1976.

The 116-page autobiographical account details the then-33-year-old’s months of preparation, a failed attempt, and his gruelling but ultimately successful 38-mile swim that raised $11,000 for charity and landed O’Connell in Sports Illustrated and the Guinness Book of Records.

Produced by Brimstone Media, Shark Bait: How I Battled Tides, Fins and Fatigue to Complete the First Non-stop Swim Around Bermuda also reveals how O’Connell’s 43-plus-hour feat—the first known circumnatation of the island—was triggered by a $1,000 bet wagered by a friend at Pembroke’s Robin Hood Pub one Friday evening.

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“It only happened because of a happy-hour boast that turned into a serious proposition—and it changed my life forever,” says O’Connell, now 75, who moved to the island in 1974 and spent 29 years teaching at the college.

Born in Brooklyn, New York to a family of Irish heritage, O’Connell, now Bermudian, trained to become a Jesuit priest after highschool until he chose teaching as a career instead. But he says his upbringing as the son of a high-ranking New York City police officer, plus the years of discipline he practised in the religious order, prepared him well for his long-distance effort years later.

O’Connell’s seven months of training in the ocean around Bermuda in 1976 saw him battle weight loss, vomiting and psychological challenges, as well as endure combative tides and close encounters with barracuda, sharks, jellyfish, even a freighter.

Through it, he learned the necessities of marathon swimming—how to fuel his body with high-energy supplements and protect against hours in salt water by coating himself with thick grease and wearing a face mask.

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A team of volunteers and vessels was organised to support him through two attempts, including the final successful clockwise swim around the island August 21–23 in a time of 43 hours, 27 minutes. O’Connell donated a total of $11,000 raised by his swim to the Bermuda Physically Handicapped Association [BPHA].

The book, which includes contemporary photographs and newspaper clippings, looks at other round-the-island attempts after his achievement—including one by American open-water swimmer Lori King who succeeded in breaking his record in 2016, the 40th anniversary of his swim, just as he finished writing his narrative.

Shark Bait is currently on sale at Bookmart for $19.95. All proceeds go to the BPHA, the charity that benefitted from his swim.

Photo courtesy of Seán O’Connell collection

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Comments (2)

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  1. wahoo says:

    What an incredible achievement, this guy is tough!

  2. Toodle-oo says:

    Not only was he tough he was brave and very generous.

    There’s no way on God’s green earth that I would have done what he did , especially with all the buildup from the movie Jaws .

    In retrospect there was , in the lead up to the event , a massive letter writing campaign going on in the daily that turned out to be eventually recognized as a big PR stunt , but it was very cleverly done what with the jabs from the side accusing him of being an expat and taking jobs away from locals and the other side saying how it was going to be an amazing accomplishment .

    It was a time when many letters to the editor were signed with the names of local fish .I can still remember many of them .

    Aah , good times , life was much simpler then .

    And again , congrats Sean !