Leinster Distance Gala
On Sunday last the 13/1/2013 fourteen Sliabh Beagh swimmers competed in the Leinster Distance Gala in the National Aquatic Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin. Our swimmers entered events that ranged from 200m to 800m. We had swimmers in the 200 Free, Backcrawl, Breaststroke, Butterfly and IM. We also had swimmers in the 400 and 800m Freestyle events. This is a big change for the club, because until this season we were reluctant to chase the longer distances – 400 and 800m events, with a few exceptions, because we were not realistically fit enough over distance. Now we are getting confidence, skill and developing our levels of fitness and intensity with more frequent training. The performances by all our swimmers were very good and all swimmers produced Personal Best times in their events.
Things that have been worked on in training like pacing, turns, and underwater work after the push offs, arm action in Freestyle and breaststroke were all evident to the coaches as being applied by the swimmers. These very important technical aspects, which are hard to correct, allied with the increased frequency of training, has yielded this improvement. Well done swimmers. Now the challenge is to move on and with hard work and more focused training every session, you can start to push on to the next level of performance.
The actual results will be posted on the club notice board this week. The photographs below are of the swimmers who represented the club at this gala. The swimmers attending were, Cillian McGahan, Conor Comiskey, Sean McKenna, Colin Gorman, Jamie Sheridan, Nathan Shields, Peter O’Hara, Claragh McGahon, Emer Sheridan, Jordan McShane, Shauna McGahon, Eimear McKenna, Anna McCrarren, Alannah Leonard.
Ulster Minor Schools Championships
Last Saturday 12th January our junior swimmers competed at the Ulster Minor Schools 1, 2 and 3 Championships in Ballymena. Sliabh Beagh had 16 swimmers represent their schools at this gala and in total 11 medals were brought home.
The following swimmers won medals in their age groups
Dara Quinn – Gold backstroke and Gold freestyle
Caoimhe Quinn – Gold backstroke and Silver freestyle
Connor Comiskey – Gold freestyle and Gold butterfly
Claragh McGahon – Silver freestyle and Silver backstroke
Cillian McGahon – Bronze butterfly
Cara Leonard – Gold freestyle and Bronze Butterfly
Personal Bests were achieved by all swimmers and the following reached finals – Matthew Comiskey, Allison Gorman, Olivia Gorman, Lorcan Roberts, Caolan Roberts, Niamh Lavelle, Aimee Stevely, Rhiona Kilpatrick, Donna Treacy and Sorcha Deery.
The qualifiers out of this gala will now swim at the Irish Minor Schools Championships which will be held on the 9th March in Galway. Next weekend the Ulster Minor Schools Championships for age group 4 and 5 will take place in Ballymena and we would like to wish all our swimmers who are competing the Best Of Luck.
Ulster Squad in Luxemburg Gala
One of the club swimmers Alannah Leonard will be representing Ulster in the International Gala in Luxemburg over the coming weekend. Alannah is the Ulster Open and Irish Age Group Champion in 200 Backcrawl. She is also the Ulster Champion in 200 IM. In Luxemburg she and her fellow squad members will be competing against some of the best swimmers in Europe and like herself some of the best emerging talent from across Europe. Alannah will be swimming in the following events; 50, 100 and 200 Backcrawl, 50 and 100 Freestyle and 200 IM. Good luck Alannah.
BT Young Scientists Competition
Three club members were representing their schools in this competition last week. Eimear McKenna was a member of the Colaiste Oireall team. Louis Madden was amember of the St. Macartans team and Kate Madden of Largy College was an individual entry. While they all did themselves, their family and their schools proud, pride of place must go to Kate who was third overall in her category.
Club Record Gala
The results have been collated and the new record holders will be added to the existing records and posted on the club notice board. The next record gala will be in MAY 2013 and this will be the first chance to set new records in the 100m events. The protocol is published on the club website.
50m Pool Training
Our next 50m pool session in Magherfelt is this Sunday the 20/1/13. The session time is 10 am to 12 noon. We also have a session in the 50m pool on the 27/1/13 from 1 pm to 3 pm.