Frostbit Boy Ruairi McSorley at the beach where his swim started
The Co Derry man who came to fame over his schoolboy interview in the winter freeze of 2015 aims to carve out a new life in the Lone Star State as a livestock auctioneer.
Ruairi, from the village of Park, said he was “forever grateful” to the rescue services who plucked him from the sea off Castlegregory beach last week after being in the waters for 12 hours.
When asked how he managed to stay afloat unaided for so long, he said it was down to “mental strength”.
“I’ve never trained in long distance swimming or anything,” he said in his distinctively thick Co Derry accent.
“I’m an okay swimmer but this might have been a wee bit too far.”
He was almost three miles off the coast when he was rescued, surrounded by a pod of dolphins.
“I got a bit worried when I saw the fins, but thankfully it was all okay.”
He said he had been living in a nearby caravan park during lockdown and his decision to take to the waves was unplanned.
He took to the water without telling friends and family and it was only when he had been missing for so long that the alarm was raised.
“Sure, I saw Fenit Lighthouse in the distance and thought that’s my goal so I went for it, and you know yourself when you have a target in mind you’re determined to reach it, so I just kept going.”
He revealed he had been spending time in the States prior to lockdown and had intended to return only for the world to go into lockdown.
‘Frostbit Boy’ Ruairi McSorely back in 2015 during North’s cold snap
“I’m planning to become an auctioneer, I think it would be ideal for me, a mixture of comedy and the fast talking.”
His sea escapade means he is back in the headlines for the first time since his infamous interview as a schoolboy eight years ago.
Despite the shaggy beard he was instantly recognisable as the fresh faced schoolboy interviewed as he made his way home through the snow.
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