Paddler aims to set new world record in Lough Corrib challenge

A world recorder paddleboarder from the UK will aim to set another world record – to cross Lough Corrib in a new fastest time this Saturday.

David Haze, who calls himself the Nomadic Paddler, currently holds the world record for stand-up paddle boarding across the longest lakes in Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Wales and down the River Thames.

The 36-year-old, who works as a consultant with Penal Reform Solutions, now plans to set a new world record for the fastest time to paddle board across Lough Corrib, Ireland’s longest lake.

Starting in Menlo and ending in Maam, he will be paddling a distance of around 40km – and, if successful, it will be his sixth world record. To achieve this, he has to go the distance in under seven hours. He has done a similar length and managed it in 5 hours 20 minutes.

“I am keeping a close eye on the winds and at the moment they look in my favour. From what I can see nobody has paddled the length of Lough Corrib but I imagine people have done it before. I have heard it gets quite rough but back in June I paddled the length of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland and that is referred to as an ‘Inland Sea’, so I will take what I learned on Lough Neagh and use that experience on Lough Corrib.”

He will stand the whole time on his board. He says he doesn’t suffer from cramps, fighting them off with stretching, correct nutrition and plenty of salt in his body.

Read the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie