Surgical gloves, plastic bottles and crisp packets were just some of the items floating in the river Liffey at first glance. Nonetheless, over 300 swimmers, aged 14 to 75, were willing to dive straight in on Saturday to compete in the 85th annual Dublin Liffey swim.
"It's not as dirty as it used to be," explained Sarah Keane, CEO of Swim Ireland, before taking part in the women's Liffey swim for her third consecutive year. "And it looks a lot worse than it actually is because of a lot of floating rubbish. As soon as each swimmer gets out the fire brigade hoses them down, so that helps."
For those who want to take part in the swim, it's not as simple as jumping into the river Liffey on race day. The 2.4km swim is the final event in a season of 24 open water races held in Leinster during the summer months. Each contestant must complete five races of the season to qualify for the Liffey swim, and a time penalty is placed on each swimmer, depending on ability.
"Because it's handicapped, everyone has a chance of winning," said Ms Keane, "that's what makes it such a fun race. But it's also a very prestigious race, and part of Dublin's culture."
The men's race got under way first on Saturday and approximately 180 men took part. All identically clad in white swim hats, they dived in underneath Watling Street bridge at assigned times, depending on their handicap. Kevin Stacey was the only male swimmer who stood out - he sported a red swim hat, signalling that he was the fastest competing swimmer and he dived into the river Liffey eight minutes after the first swimmers.
Dan Smyth, Frank Carroll and Ciarán Balfe came in first, second and third place in the men's event. The women's race, which began an hour after the men's, saw almost 120 women take to water and Molly Molloy, Niamh Carr and Mary Kelly emerged the eventual winners in consecutive order.
Seasoned Liffey competitor Paul Emmett took part along with his son and daughter, marking his 50th consecutive Liffey swim.