Safety Bay Paralympian becomes first person to swim from Dirk Hartog Island to Denham

A Paralympic swimmer from Safety Bay has become the first person to swim from Dirk Hartog Island to Denham. Jeremy McClure has been to four Paralympics and powered through the 36km swim in 12 hours and 41 minutes on February 12. The region is known for strong currents and winds, but McClure has never been afraid to push himself. “I got into swimming about a year after I lost my vision because I heard of the Paralympics,” he said. “10 months later, I went to my first trials and made the Athens Paralympics. “It was a pretty surreal experience and very rewarding.” He made the 100m backstroke final, coming sixth. McClure continued to compete in the pool before falling in love with open water swimming in 2013. He completed his first Rottnest Channel swim in 2015. “It’s a lot of endurance and it was extremely fulfilling, so that was really the start of it,” McClure said. He then brought his focus back to his fourth Paralympics in Rio but could not shake the urge for another open water adventure. “In the back of my mind, even though Rio was my focus, I thought when I got back I would do a double-crossing (of the Rottnest Channel),” he said. He completed the double-crossing three months later. McClure said his latest marathon effort was as much about inspiring others as setting a “higher bar” for himself. “If I inspire other people, especially if they’re having a bad day, bad week, bad year, then that makes me happy,” he said. “I want to encourage people to do things that keep them positive.” The 34-year-old missed the Tokyo games and while he still said he wants to take a crack at Paris, he is focusing on his child due to be born in three weeks.