When Austrian native Monika Power first arrived in Ireland as a 20-year-old au pair in 1995, she could never have imagined that the cold Atlantic waters off West Cork would one day play such an important part in her life. “I remember dipping my toe in for the first time,” she shares with Mary O’Brien. “The pain was quite intense. I had spent a lot of time in lakes back in Austria but back then swimming in the sea just wasn’t for me.”
It wasn’t until 2008 after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder that Monika realised her body had become intolerant to hot and cold temperatures.
While Glengarriff is now home, it wasn’t the sea or the landscape that first captured the young au-pair’s heart so many years ago but rather a local lad with the gift of the gab by the name of Dave Power. After giving Monika and her brother a lift when they were hitchhiking around Ireland, a long-distance relationship ensued, kept alive by letters for two years.
Nearly 30 years later, the happily married couple have two children, and Monika, 51, has become well-known down west for her role in encouraging nervous swimmers, young and old, into the cold water.
In 2012, she joined The Water School in Ballylickey, where she began training as a swim teacher and water safety instructor and discovered a lifelong passion. “I didn’t even have a proper swimming costume when I started,” she admits, “But I knew immediately that this was exactly what I wanted to do.”
Since then many people have learned to swim with confidence under her calm and encouraging instruction, oftentimes starting off in the warmth of the pool at the Maritime Hotel in Bantry before moving on to the shifting currents of Bantry Bay and Glengarriff Harbour.
Over time Monika leaned naturally towards providing individual instruction, as she finds teaching groups challenging. She prefers to engage with each swimmer’s unique needs, after realising that both children and adults, at some stage during their swimming journey, benefit from personalised coaching. “Water gives both children and adults the freedom to move with ease, especially when struggling physically due to injuries or a neurodiversity,” she explains.
It was during the pandemic, like so many in West Cork, that she finally found herself drawn to the sea. “My sister-in-law lent me a wetsuit and off I went,” she says. After struggling so long with the cold, she realised how energising and revitalising swimming in the sea can be and “was hooked”.
Seeing an opportunity to combine her teaching experience with this newfound passion, Monika completed an open water coaching qualification with Olympic open water swimmer Keri Anne Payne, travelling to Belfast between lockdowns for the practical sessions. After sharing her newly-acquired skills with her local community, in 2022, she made the leap to start up her own swim coaching business and ‘Coast Swimmer’ was born.
Monica’s approach to coaching is slow and steady. “Open water swimming is a double-edged sword,” she explains. “The benefits are incredible – that pure joy and invigoration – but it must be done safely.
She stresses how important it is that sea swimmers familiarise themselves with changing conditions like rip currents, weather and temperature before entering the water and that they take the time to acclimatise to the cold. “Try to go regularly but choose a safe area and a routine that suits your lifestyle and is easy to manage,” she advises.
The swim teacher keeps her swim groups small in order to give her full attention to individuals. “Safety comes first and confidence matters,” she says.
She also helps out with Water Safety Ireland classes during the summer, teaching vital life-saving skills to young people during the swim weeks. “That’s a big part of what I love about what I do,” she says. “Seeing the next generation, not just enjoying the water, but passing on knowledge on how to stay safe in the water and going on to become instructors themselves.”
Two of her students, Amy (70) and Mary (62), learned to swim later in life and now swim all year-long to stay fit.
“I had just retired from a busy job and was a full-time carer when I started swimming with Monika,” shares Amy. “I remember looking across to Ellen’s Rock and seeing a buoy, maybe ten strokes away, in the water. I thought I’d love to be able to swim that far.” After six weeks Amy swam to the buoy and can now swim 1K with ease.
“At the start swimming was just an outlet, something to give me focus, providing the opportunity to meet people. Now I see my fitness improving year on year and I have a newfound confidence as a result.”
She continues to swim weekly with Monica, who she says is “an amazing teacher with infinite patience”.
Another student, 13-year-old Amelia, completed a 3K swim over the summer, raising €2,800 for Bantry Inshore Search and Rescue.
“Monica is a brilliant instructor and under her instruction Amelia gained the extra confidence she needed to go into the open water,” shares Amelia’s dad Eoghan Quish “Swimming 3K was an amazing achievement for someone so young and Amelia is aiming for the 5K next year.”
Four years ago Helen learned how to do the front crawl under Monika’s guidance and this year swam her first 5K in open water, as well as bringing home a medal from the Vibes and Scribes Lee Swim last July.
“Swimming has become my happy place,” she says “and I am grateful to Monika for her support on my journey.”
For Monika, every session is special. “It’s a heartwarming experience” she says. “When someone who was afraid finally takes off without fear, or when clients get back to me with happy swimming stories after joining their friends – that’s what keeps me going.”
She recalls one woman who had always swum head up doing the breast stroke, too afraid to look beneath the surface. She was terrified, but she trusted me. The moment she looked down, she saw the beauty underneath – the light, the seaweed, the fish. I couldn’t get her out of the water after that!”
Diving her time between the open water and pool, Monika teaches all levels and abilities. She offers four different levels in the sea during the summer, catering for beginners to more experienced sea swimmers training for local swim events or triathlons around the country.
Her next project, she says, will focus on parents and toddlers in the pool, but with more emphasis on the parents. “When parents are confident in the water with their little ones these children will benefit in their future swim journey!” she explains.
Looking back, the swim teacher is modest about how many people she’s helped – she’s lost count – but her impact in Glengarriff and beyond is easy to see. Over the past three years, Monika has guided countless swimmers into the sea, from beginners staying close to shore to more experienced ones taking on challenges of up to 5k.
If you would like more information you can text Monika on 087-2396284.