The Expendables - Kevin Bell Trust

The loss of a loved on is always devastating, but when a death occurs abroad, it can create a huge burden, both emotional and financial, for families. After Kevin Bell died suddenly in New York in 2013, at the age of 26, his family established the Repatriation Trust in his honour, to help other families in a similar situation, not just with financial support, but with practical advice and guidance on bringing home their loved ones’ remains. It is a volunteer organisation led by Kevin’s father Colin, which operates across the island of Ireland and is a registered charity in both North and South.

To raise funds for this very worthy cause, the Expendables – six highly experienced, not to say “mature”, open water swimmers with a combined age of almost 400 years – will brave the stormy, jellyfish-infested waters of the Irish Sea for an epic swim. Supported by Infinity Channel Swimming, the team will start from Gyles’ Quay, on the southern shore of the Cooley Peninsula, and swim to Port Oriel, at Clogherhead, approximately 25km away. The exact date will depend on weather conditions at the time, but our likely window is from 11-18 July 2025.

Our team encompasses male and female, North and South, and a range of abilities and disabilities. What unites us is a love of open-water swimming, a determination to keep going for as long as we can, and a desire to help others by raising as much money as possible for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. We are now seeking sponsorship, both corporate and individual, from anyone who can help.

David Burke, a hugely experienced Channel swimmer who, undeterred by the fact that he is an above-the-knee amputee, has three North Channel swims, an English Channel crossing and a Lough Neagh swim under his belt.

Isolde Goggin, who has completed the 7.5k Battle of Carlingford Lough five times and has also swum from Asia to Europe in the annual Bosphorus Crossing Continents race in Istanbul.

Harry Jordan, the pioneer of open-water swimming in Carlingford Lough. Since long before the current lockdown-induced vogue, Harry was swimming the length and breadth of the lough, and has introduced hundreds of people to the pleasures of sea swimming.

Milo McCourt, an endurance athlete, swimmer, triathlete and coach. He too has swum the English Channel, as well as completing the Barcelona Iron Man triathlon and the world’s highest-altitude swimming race in Qinghai, China.

Declan O’Reilly, a relative newcomer to open water swimming who has made huge progress in a few short years, from avoiding the deep end to completing the Battle of Carlingford Lough in 2023.

David Rodgers, another immensely experienced swimmer who swam the English Channel with David Burke in 2016v, has swum the Battle of Carlingford Lough numerous times and has acted as support crew on many occasions.