Search for second swimmer missing in Co Galway called off until morning

A search will resume at first light in Galway on Wednesday morning for a woman in her 30s who went missing after going for a swim in the sea at Silverstrand near Barna on Tuesday morning.
The body of a man in his 70s who also went missing after swimming at the same beach on Tuesday morning was recovered from the water shortly after lunchtime a short distance away, at Rusheen Bay.
Gardaí are treating the incidents separately and are trying to establish what happened.
Supt Paudie O’Shea appealed for anyone who was in the Silverstrand area on Tuesday morning and noticed anything to contact them.
“We don’t fully understand the sequence of events which occurred here this morning, but it would be quite unusual. That is something we’re just trying to piece together,” said Supt O’Shea, speaking at Silverstrand as the search continued on Tuesday afternoon.
“At the moment, currently, we are treating them as two separate incidents. We’re dealing with two different families at one location.
“Both parties would be local to the area. We don’t believe they are known to each other. They would have both arrived here this morning, for they would have been both people who would frequent the sea for a daily swim.
“We’re just trying to piece together the sequence of events, and currently we don’t know the full sequence of events, and that is something we’re trying to establish. It is absolutely devastating for both families, and An Garda Síochána are working closely with both families. We are supporting them through this devastating time for both of them,” he added.
The alarm was raised initially when the man, who is from Barna, did not return from his early morning swim.
As the search began for the man it emerged that the woman, who was from the nearby Spiddal area, was reported missing after failing to arrive at work, and her car was located at Silverstrand, where she regularly went for a swim.
The area was covered in a dense fog throughout the morning, but the sea was calm.
Gardaí, Galway RNLI, the Coast Guard, Galway Sub Aqua and local volunteers, including fishing boats, had launched a search both in the water and along the shoreline in a bid to locate the two swimmers.
Visibility was very poor, which prevented the Coast Guard rescue helicopter from being tasked, but the body of the man was located after a few hours.