Families gather for Dublin City Liffey Swim today
The 98th Dublin City Liffey Swim takes place this afternoon.
Over 500 swimmers will cover a distance of 2.2 kilometres from Watling Street Bridge beside the Guinness Brewery, past the Four Courts, the Civic Offices and Liberty Hall, under O' Connell Bridge, to finish up at the Custom House.
The men's race starts at 1pm, with the women's race starting at 2pm.
Anybody got 50p for the immersion? Could be a cold shower for the #LiffeySwim competitors in one of our decontamination showers later today. pic.twitter.com/WIJv8Vj3NW
— Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) September 9, 2017
Eoin Gaffney from Leinster Open Sea says it is a family event which this year spans three generations.
"The Liffey is unique as a sporting event as we often have multiple generations of the same family taking part in the race," he said.
"the youngest swimmer is Lucy Collins, who I believe is 13 years of age, from the Viking Swimming Club in Dublin, and the oldest swimmer is Sally Newell, who's flying in from Atlanta, Georgia, to swim in the Liffey for the second time.
"Sally is going to be joined by Amy and three other members of her family."
