Galway girls on crest of a wave!

From the rough and tumble of a national football league final, to the rough seas of the wild Atlantic Ocean.

The Galway senior ladies football squad didn’t sit back after drawing with reigning All-Ireland champions Cork in the league decider at Parnell Park last Saturday.

Instead they braved the icy waters of Galway Bay and went for an ‘extreme’ recovery session in the sea at Silver Strand, a popular spot for summer sun worshippers between Barna and Galway City.

But clearly it wasn’t a day for swimsuits or bikinis. The grey skies and high waves crashing against the shore meant that the group of up to 20 players were all well wrapped up in tracksuits, rain gear and for some, woolly hats, as they were put through their paces along the shoreline.

It’s said that behind every man, there’s a great woman. And behind every woman on the current Galway ladies senior football squad there’s another great woman, too. She just happens to be a no-nonsense fitness coach who is pushing the women ‘to the next level’.

Strength and conditioning coach, Ann Caffrey, posted the photograph of the women in recovery on social media and said: “Because a tough match deserves a tougher recovery”.

The Galway ladies, managed by Kevin Reidy, were attempting to do what they’ve never done before – win a Division One league title.

Galway could have beaten Cork but at the final whistle, too, they would have been relieved it finished all square as they needed two late points from Tracy Leonard and Lorna Joyce to rescue a 1-14 to 3-8 draw.

As they prepare for the replay tonight in Portlaoise (7.30pm), the Galway ladies could do worse than to remember the wise words of fitness coach, Caffrey: “Everyone has potential. Believe, achieve, succeed.”