Welcome back to all our parents, coaches and swimmers after the August break. While most of us were putting our feet up, some of our team were busy competing in major competitions across Europe.

A strong team comprising of Sean O’Brien, Conor Turner, Wendy O’Neill, Sarah Taafe and Catriona English took part in the British Age Groups. Sean O’Brien and Conor Turner then headed off to compete in the UK Schools Championships, joined by Rachel Nevins, Aisling Reid and Gavin Trueman.

Two Aer Lingus swimmers Barry Murphy and Andrew Meegan were part of the Irish squad competing at the European Championships in Budapest.

Barry got through his semi-final of the Men’s 50 metres breaststroke to make the final, taking second place in 27.60 seconds and sixth fastest overall. He finished 14th overall after the heats of the 50-metre breaststroke after swimming a time of 28.02 seconds.

Andrew finished 32nd in the Men’s 5k swim, taking one hour six minutes and 58 seconds to finish the race. Swim Ireland’s national performance director Peter Banks was delighted with the result:

“…This has been a good start for Irish open water swimming – it’s the first time that Ireland’s ever had an open water swimmer at a LEN European Championships.To be competing with a field of the top open water swimmers in the world and to understand what it takes to get to this level is what our swimmers have taken from this week…”

Highlight of the week was Grainne Murphy’s silver medal in the 1,500 metres Freestyle Grainne recorded a blistering time of 16:02.29, cutting a further eight seconds off the Irish record set in the heats, the second fastest time in the world this year.

Aer Lingus swimmer Ellen Keane achieved an impressive double where she reached the finals of both the 200m Individual Medley and 100m Breaststroke at the IPC Paralympic World Swimming Championships in Eindhoven, Holland.

Having qualified sixth fastest in the heats of both events in the morning session, Ellen’s first race of the evening was the 200m Individual Medley (SM9) where she finished in sixth position with a time of 2.46.58 behind the eventual winner, world renowned swimmer and Paralympic medallist, South Africa’s Natalie Do Toit.

However, Ellen was back in the pool just over one hour later for her second final of the evening, the 100m breaststroke (SM8) finishing seventh in a time of 1.28.64.

Speaking after the finals Ellen commented:

“…It was a great way to finish my swims here at the world championships swimming in two finals, I swan a little slower tonight then I did in the heats this morning, but I have learned a lot from competing here to take away for my preparations towards London 2012…”

]]> http://www.alswimclub.com/blog/2010/09/02/aer-lingus-swim-club-in-action-across-europe/feed/ 0 http://www.alswimclub.com/blog/2010/08/02/interview-with-aer-lingus-swimmer-and-beijing-2008-paralympic-finalist-ellen-keane/ http://www.alswimclub.com/blog/2010/08/02/interview-with-aer-lingus-swimmer-and-beijing-2008-paralympic-finalist-ellen-keane/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:06:15 +0000 admin http://www.alswimclub.com/?p=1284 [...]]]>

The Paralympic Council of Ireland recently announced the Irish team for the 2010 IPC World Swimming Championships. Eight swimmers will represent Ireland at the forthcoming Championships, to be held in Eindhoven, Holland from 15th – 25th August, 2010.

The squad includes Aer Lingus swimmer and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Finalist, Ellen Keane.  Speaking on the team announcement, Head of Paralympic Swimming Dave Malone said:

“I have been working with the athletes for towards the World Championships since my appointment as Head of Paralympic Swimming over a year ago. They have worked very hard over the last year and this is a group of very talented performers. Eindhoven is the perfect showcase opportunity for them to display their talent.”

Ellen will be taking part in the 100m Breaststroke, 100m Butterfly & 200m Individual Medley. Taking time out of her busy pre-competition schedule Ellen paused for breath and spoke with us in a quick fire interview.

How did you get into swimming and when did you realise you could be a great swimmer? My dad contacted the manager of the paralympic swim team whose daughter has the same arm as me. She told my dad about all the swimming her daughter has done and I then decided to start swimming. I realised I could be a good swimmer when I qualified for the Beijing paralympic games when I was 12.

What has been the highlight of your international career so far? Beijing Paralympic Games

What are you goals for the IPC Swimming World Championship in Eindhoven, Holland next month? To qualify for finals in my IM and breaststroke

What qualities make up a great swimmer? Training hard

Who has inspired you? Michael Phelps.

If you weren’t a swimmer, what other sport would you have done? Dancing

What’s your favourite stroke? Breaststroke

What are your pre-race thoughts or routines? Trying to think positive thoughts and staying focused.

What do you enjoy most about your swimming life? The countries I’ve competed in.

Is there a song that inspires you before competition? Lose Yourself by Eminem

Finally, what advice would you give to a young swimmer that wants to reach the top? Believe in yourself and train hard.

All at ALSC are extremely  proud of Ellen’s achievement and we will be following her progress in Holland with great interest. Well done to Ellen for also being named PCI Athlete of the Month July 2010 !

Day 3, Saturday and we are half way there. The girls 400m free is the first event and Aer Lingus have three swimmers in the final. Tara English proves to the quickest of our swimmers in this one and takes the bronze. Not to be outdone, cometh the hour, cometh the man. Club captain Gavin Truman steps up and takes gold in the u/16 boys 400 Free, a triumph for hard work and persistence as he said himself!

In the 200 back, Wendy O’Neill takes bronze. One of the races of weekend was about to take place. Templeogue fresh from winning the 4 x 100 metre freestyle in a record breaking time, where lining up a possible double by taking the 4 x 100 IM relay title from the current champions and junior record holders Aer Lingus. Something had to give and what took place was truly memorable.  A speech from Alan beforehand settled some nerves, but the tension was palpable, (and the was just in the balcony).

Tara led them off with an inspiring 100m backstroke, Catrina continued her fine form for the breast stroke, Sarah maintained their position giving her all in the fly leg, Rachel went into the water with a slight lead and stayed ahead right to the end. All four girls swam to their optimum, giving it everything and got to the wall less than a second ahead of Templeogue, with both teams inside the old record by over 2 seconds.

The smiles at the end of such a race are what it is all about, the early mornings, the hard work, the injuries, the pain, all forgotten as the girls basked in the glory of setting a new Irish Junior record and winning the 4 x 100 IM title for the second year running.

To end the evening, the senior girls took bronze in their event and the u/16 boys took silver.

Sunday and the end is nigh, Wendy O’Neill takes silver in the women’s 800 meters, Catrina picks up another gold in the 200 IM, and Gavin’s weekend continues to bear fruit with a silver in the boys 200 IM. Catrina entered the pool again for the 200m Breast as hot favourite and duly delivered the gold. Barry Murphy ended Aer Lingus’s interest in the competition with another gold in the  50m freestyle, winning impressively.

What a weekend, everyone ended the weekend exhausted but that is not the end of the story, Barry and the rest of the Irish team, including Andrew Meegan; depart from Dublin to a training camp in Slovenia in preparation for the European Championships.

Catrina, Gavin, Conor, Sean, and Sarah have to continue training, preparing for the British Age Group competition, whilst Rachel, Aisling, and the 3 boys mentioned above are travelling to the UK Schools in early September, so unfortunately no rest for the wicked.

Special mention to Ellen Keane, who will represent  Ireland at the International Paralympic Games (IPC). The event is being held in Eindhoven, Holland and runs from the 15-25 August.

So to close, congratulations to Alan Turner for preparing his swimmers so well, well done to all those who competed, if I mentioned all of the PB’s that where achieved I’d be typing for another 4 hours.

Well done to the parents who participated in timekeeping, turn judges or one of the many other jobs that have to be performed to make these events run efficiently.

And from the swimmers, thank you Mammy…!

Article courtesy of: Paul Nevins

]]> http://www.alswimclub.com/blog/2010/07/28/irish-youth-open-championships-day-3-and-4-report/feed/ 3 http://www.alswimclub.com/blog/2010/07/27/irish-youth-open-championships-day-1-and-2-report/ http://www.alswimclub.com/blog/2010/07/27/irish-youth-open-championships-day-1-and-2-report/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:29:18 +0000 admin http://www.alswimclub.com/?p=1250 [...]]]>

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….

All photos courtesy : Kieran Berry.

Aer Lingus Swim Club team photos from the Irish Youth Open Championships at the NAC. Well done to all swimmers on some great individual and team performances. Full Swim Meet report to follow shortly…

After rising to the rank of A- list celeb with his last article, a newly sun tanned Maurice McCrohan makes a welcome return to our website. Enjoy!

“…I was reading though last years Division 2 results getting myself and young Sinead psyched up for the Div 2′s. I scrolled down the list of club names and noted there were dolphins, sharks and jets among the competition!

I don’t wish to send the ALSC Committee into an apoplexy of EGM’S to consider changes of the club name and logos!. After all Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton are three stand alone football names,all of which have official and even unofficial nicknames!. But this did get me thinking that the best sporting clubs all have a nickname or a legend. Everyone knows who the All Blacks, Springboks, Kangaroos,Pumas etc are!.

Lions, Tigers and Bears cross the sporting globe and sporting codes. San Antonio basketball and north London’s Tottenham have their Spurs. Sometimes there are loose connections between names. Boston Celtics and Glasgow Celtics share an Irish flavour reflecting the complexion of support from the local community.

In other cases they could not be more diametrically opposed, Crossmaglens GAA and Glasgow’s Rangers! I knew a Glasgow Celtic fan who’s obsession with his rivals Rangers was such that he would not let his kids watch the Power Rangers.I said there is no connection between the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise and Glasgow Rangers!. He stared at me with the glazed look of the deluded and snapped back,”…well why isn’t there a green one then…”?

Across the water,Sunday league football comes up with some wonderful plays on words!. The London Indian league has a Real Madras!. A Scottish pub league contains Dyslexia Untied and a Surreal Madrid!

So what of a moniker for Aer Lingus? Aer Lingus Swimming Crew sounds too much like an English football hooligan firm! The airport links give rise to the more obvious “Jets” and “Flyers”!. Perhaps the
Aer Lingus “Frequent Flyers” judging by the quantity and quality of the swimmers at Galas!

Mindful of our pending trip to a french speaking part of Switzerland, the boys may be called locally the Aer Lingus Garcons!. I hope the overall performances at Neuchental do not lend us to being dubbed
L’Escargots!

So if you think a nickname is a good idea, please respond with your own ideas.Equally,if you feel why change what is already well known,please let us know.

All views are welcome!…”

Boys U15 who finished 2nd in 200m IM relay

Girls U12 who finished 4th in 200m Free relay

Boys U12 who finished 3rd in 200m IM relay

…proving that our swimmer’s talents extend way beyond the pool ( just don’t get on the wrong side of the bunch below ),  X Factor here we come…!

ALSC Girls U12 who came 1st in 200m IM relay

ALSC Boys U15 who came 1st in 200m Freestyle relay

ALSC Boys U12 who came 4th in 200m Freestyle relay

ALSC  Boys Division 1 Squad Photo.

Well done to all swimmers, the team have got off to a great start in both individual and team events. We’ll have more photos and a full gala report soon.

Photo courtesy: De Photo

For more Division 2 Gala photos click on the De Photo logo on our website.

Gala report from Coach Paolo;

“…Here we are again……….. back from Limerick after competing in the Irish Age Groups Div 2 Gala. Three days of intense and exciting competition took place in an atmosphere, which was very warm in every sense.

The Gala was well organised, presenting only minor flaws. Everything went relatively well and sessions ended within the scheduled timeframe. We had a small team of 4 girls (Sinead, Megan, Ciara and Eilbhe), all of them in the under 12 Age group, one boy in the same Age group (Derek) and one in the under 16 (Michael). So the team was small in numbers but grand in spirit and attitude. They cheered and supported each other all the way throughout the three long days of competitions.

The first day we started with the girls in the water for the 100Bk. They all got fantastic Pbs with Eilbhe lowering hers by more than 3 seconds and Sinead missing the final for 0.04. Then it was Michael’s turn with the 200IM in which he swam very close to his Pb and almost made the podium.  Ciara, Megan, Sinead and Eilbhe had a fantastic medley relay, which almost made the final.

On Saturday we had a very good day with swimmers, both girls and boys, getting Pbs again in almost all the events they swam and with Derek making finals in the 100 Fly and Fc and missing the Division 1 time only by 0.08. Michael also made the final in the 100 Fly finishing second and getting the first medal for our team. The girls made the Fc relay final, in which they ended 4th, despite a minor accident in the heat. They showed a great attitude and fought really well. Megan’s face (and voice) whilst cheering and encouraging the others after her own leg was priceless and also the official photographer noticed that.

The final day had in store more excitement for us. We started really well with Derek swimming a fantastic 200Bk and winning the gold medal. Then in the same event Sinead lowered her Pb by 4 seconds with Ciara getting another Pb as well. But we hadn’t finished yet! Michael made the final in the 100 Breast and a few minutes later, in a well paced race, Derek won another medal getting also Division 1 time in the 200 Fc. He got the Bronze but should have been awarded Silver, since a swimmer with D 1 times was allowed to race. All our complaints were dismissed with silly excuses. In the 200 Fc for the girls, the final event, Sinead got another fantastic Pb by 3 seconds.

Overall it was a very good Gala for us and the team showed a good sense of comradeship and friendship with boys cheering and supporting the girls and the girls returning the favour at every swim. Michael, who was the only one from the Seniors squad, deserves a special mention. He mingled very well with the youngest swimmers and was always present to support them during races almost at risk of missing his own swims.

Parents were fantastic, always helpful and cheerful; they never interfered with the coach’s work but were always ready to bring their support and contribution in a discrete and relaxed way, making his life much easier. That contributed to create a joyful and serene atmosphere amongst the children who enjoyed the experience in and out of the pool.

Last but not least, I have to mention and thank our fabulous Team Manager, Noeleen, who did a great job taking care of every aspect of our trip to Limerick and kept us well fed throughout the long weekend……………………….with a little help from the local Chinese.