Last weekend from Thursday 22nd of July to Sunday 25th, saw the last competition of the national swimming calendar, the Irish Youth and Senior Championships, and if you expected this to be a top competition, you were not about to be disappointed.
An international flavour was added by the arrival of teams, from Scotland, France, Egypt and South Africa, so, after the Long Course Nationals where many of the events were dominated by the USA team, there was definitely a mood among the Irish swimmers that things were going to be different this time around, and to be fair they were.
Thursday kicked off with the heat and humidity in the NAC being at it most uncomfortable best for those not competing, a long 4 days loomed. However it wasn’t long before the action got serious and the medals started to flow as early as event 3 in the girls 200m free. Rachel Nevins took bronze in the u/15 category after a pulsating battle with teammate Tara English.
Gavin Truman gave a sneak preview of what was to come later in the competition by claiming bronze in the boy’s u/16 200 free. Sarah Taaffe went one better a short time later and delivered the first silver medal for Aer Lingus in the u/15 200 fly.
The last events of Thursday where the 4 x 100 Freestyle relays and we sent out teams in three of the 4 races, the senior girls added to the tally of bronze medals and the u/18 boys and u/16 girls, collected more silverware. In the girls race Templeogue set a new Irish junior record and this was to help focus some minds on Saturday.
So all in all, a good start.
Friday kicked off with more sprints and Aer Lingus strike gold for the first time at these championships, Barry Murphy powers down the NAC pool to win the 50 Fly, Catrina English doubles the gold tally in the u/15 100 breast minutes later, not to be outdone Tara claims bronze in the 400 IM, and Gavin Truman grabs another bronze in the u/16 boys 400 IM in a fantastic race. The medals continue to be collected by Aer Lingus swimmers as Barry Murphy, who now trains in the USA claims second place in the senior men’s 100 breast.
Again the evening closes with relays, this time its the 4 x 200, again three teams take to the pool, and this time its silver for the seniors girls and u/18 boys, but the u/16 girls raised the bar and took the gold.
Article courtesy of : Paul Nevins
Day 3 and 4 Report to follow tomorrow….
Related posts:
- Aer Lingus Swim Club in Action at the Irish Youth Open Championships 2010
- Leinster Open Championships…Great Performance by Aer Lingus SC
- Coach Paolo’s Division 2 Report from University of Limerick
- Barry Murphy wins 50m freestyle at Irish Nationals – qualifies for European Championships
- Photos from the Irish Nationals – NAC May 2010
Well done and continued success to all the A.L.S.C. swimmers.
From the A.L.S.A.A. Pool staff.
Richard.