WATERSKI Irish World Champion Gets His Own Lake On Wednesday

This story is really all about lifting the spirits and defeating the odds - enormous odds ! It's huge scale has rarely ever been seen in Ireland.

Dubliner Eamonn Prunty is Ireland's Number One Disabled Waterskier. Eamonn also happens to be Ireland's World Overall Disabled Waterski Champion - a title he won against athletes from 22 countries at the Championships in Townsville, Queensland, last year. This outstanding achievement is not what this story is all about.

Eamonn is now 24 years old and has been on the water since he was nine. Over the past ten years, he has traveled to Australia and the USA for serious off-season training. At his level of achievement, this is essential for the defending World Champion. Apart from being World Overall Champion, he has also taken the titles of European Tricks Champion and European Overall Champion. Again, this is not what this story is all about.

Four years ago, Eamonn's father John decided it was time to build a full size man-made lake here in Ireland - and to design it to World Class standards in order to provide Eamonn with the facilities he needs at World Champion level - and also to create a first class waterports centre capable of hosting major international events. The site he chose was just 20 minutes west of Blanchardstown - at Arodstown, Summerhill, County Meath.

Building a lake on this scale has never been attempted in Ireland before. It had to be at least 600m long and 80m wide. This is huge. Where some would search for a disused gravel pit or even a swampy patch of land for the project, John Prunty found the almost perfect site - there was a hill in the way ! In other words, he would have to first remove the hill and then dig the huge hole - doubling the scale of the challenge. It just so happened that the construction of the N3 also commenced around this time. As luck would have it, the N3 contractors urgently needed crushed stone for their foundations - and John Prunty had a pile of the stuff to get rid of. For the past three years, fleets of trucks have ferried the excavated stone for the huge expanding hole in the ground to the nearby N3 site works. Commuters now drive over this stone on the way to work.

The scale of this project has to be seen to be believed. World Champion Eamonn Prunty and his family have watched every moment of the four year development. Stage one was to excavate a small "upper" lake - about 200m long, build a Clubhouse, construct a jetty for the specialised waterski boats and fill it with water. Stage two was to excavate a further 400m. Stage three is to join the two parts and LET THE WATER FLOW !

Stage one went well. A beautiful hand crafted log cabin Clubhouse was brought from Latvia and the mini lake got under way with waterskiers and wakeboarders enjoying the limited facilities. Then, three months ago, the dream very nearly turned to a nightmare. While the excavating of the last 400m continued, a late night call to John Prunty brought some shocking news. Somehow, an electrical fault in the beautiful log cabin Clubhouse area ignited the entire building. By the time the Fire Brigade arrived, it was just too late. The entire structure was totally destroyed. Fortunately, nobody was sleeping there at the time. John Prunty's response " We will just have to order another one from Latvia "

The end of this extraordinary story is now just a few days away. On Wednesday next, March 11th, at exactly Noon, the excavator will remove the connection between the small stage one lake, and immediately join it to the 400m hole which will then create a perfect 600m long man-made lake. All this will take place just a short 20 minutes drive from Blanchardstown, off the N3. It's scale is breathtaking.

For Ireland's World Champion, Eamonn Prunty, this will be a dream come true. For the entire Prunty family, it will be a moment never to be forgotten. For Ireland, it will be the official launch of a world class Waterski and Wakeboard site capable of hosting major international events. Most of all, this will be a great uplifting example of how to overcome adversity at a time when our Country certainly needs some lifting of the spirits.

Venue : Irish Aqua Sports Centre (IASC)

Address : IASC, Arodstown, Summerhill, County Meath

Date : Wednesday, March 11th 2009

Time : Noon

Directions : N3 past Blanchardstown, exit and take the left direction at the new Roundabout for Trim / Faireyhouse, straight on past the Warrenstown Arms Pub, left at next crossroads - then watch out for the stone entrance gates to the IASC site.

Contact : Des Burke-Kennedy 086 255 8754