Over the next few weeks I'll be introducing my fellow mermaids - first up - Joan Fennelly, our lovely Irish mermaid with endless energy & gin!
While calling Henley her home now, Joan originates from Mountmellick, a small market town in the Irish midlands, where she grew up with her five brothers and two sisters. Some of Joan’s earliest memories are of swimming with family and friends in a stretch of the river Oweness known as ‘The Four Banks’, as well as on family holidays in Tramore and Curracloe in the south east of Ireland. Living in Henley now since early 2003, Joan is a sales director for a global software company. While she travels a lot for work, Joan is is a committed member of Henley Open Water Swimming Club (HOWSC), and swims year round in the River Thames with her club mates and Henley Mermaid friends. Having had a 15 year break from swimming, Joan said that one of the best decisions she has ever made was to join HOWSC, and with the friends and support she has found in the club, she has successfully completed the Thames Marathon twice, as well other open water swim events, and her 100km in 100 days swim challenge in the summer of 2018. Having grown up in a musical home, Joan is very excited about The Henley Mermaids Channel Relay swim in June 2020, where as a team much needed funds will be raised to help children and adults (irrespective of financial means) learn to play musical instruments with the help of local charity Henley Musical School, which is run by Henley Mermaid Laura Reineke
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