Stephen Redmond (born 1 August 1965) living in County Cork, Ireland is a former rugby player and triathlete who has become one of the world's hardiest marathon swimmers and a famed endurance athlete. He was nominated for the 2011 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.

Redmond has completed the English Channel in 20 hours 1 minute, the Catalina Channel in 12 hours 39 minutes, the Strait of Gibraltar in 5 hours, the Cook Strait, and is one of the few swimmers who has successfully crossed the North Channelbetween Scotland and Ireland in 17 hours 17 minutes. The water temperature of the North Channel never got about 55.4°F (13°C) and the jellyfish were as thick as could be.

He has also become the first person to swim around treacherous Fastnet Rock, a small island in the Atlantic Ocean and the most southerly point of Ireland. Redmond is currently one of the few adventurers in the world on track to achieve the Oceans Seven which is especially remarkable given his training facilities near his home town.

Redmond uses mantras of his children while tackling the channels around the world. "I use anything that gives me a mental edge. Marathon swimming is about as close as you can get to death while you are alive here on Earth. You lose all sense of perception while you are swimming in such difficult conditions," said the swimmer who typically traverses channels at a 48-52 strokes per minute pace.

From the Open Water Pedia.com

http://openwaterpedia.com/index.php?title=Stephen_Redmond