We hosted the Level 3 Spring Qualifier on April 2nd in Coral Leisure. Clubs who attended this level 3 long distance gala were Breifne SC, Drogheda SC, Dungannon SC, Enniskillen Lakelanders, Larne SC, Longford SC and Riversdale Otters.
This gala was a good opportunity for swimmers to achieve the much sought-after qualifying times for both the Ulster Age group gala and the Div 1 and Div 2 National galas. Events at this competition were 400free, 400IM, 200fly, 200breast, 200free and 200back.
Sliabh Beagh did very well at this competition coming out with thirteen Gold, thirteen Silver and four Bronze medals. There were also a host of swimmers coming very close to the podium with fourth places in several races.
Our swimmers who competed were – Erikas Zumaras, Edvardas Zumaras, Alice Trainor, Maddie Smith, Hannah Sheridan, Katherine Ryan, Oisin Rankin, Marwin Neubert, Kaelan Morgan, Aoife McKenna, Sean McConnon, Adam Lynch, Kristupas Januskevic, Darragh Hughes, Sean Greenan, Colin Gorman, Eimear Duffy and Ben Duffy.
We had some great swims from many of these swimmers, with many of them taking on 400m races for the first time in a short course pool. A coach from another club remarked on how many of our Sliabh Beagh swimmers took on the 200Fly which is a difficult stroke to swim in for 200m.
We had a very kind donation from Swimkit.ie who are well known in competitive swimming circles as suppliers of all things swimming. Swimkit provided vouchers for the overall winners of the 400 Free and IM events. The swimmers who took on both these events and finished in the highest position claimed these prizes. For our 15-16 year olds the winners were Sliabh Beagh swimmers Maddie Smith and Darragh Hughes. For the 17 and over age category, Marwin Neubert claimed the prize. Well done guys and thank you to Swimkit for their kind sponsorship.
After the gala our parents stepped up to the mark with lovely home baking, teas and coffees for the visiting teams and it was a nice way to finish off a good evenings swimming.
Well done to all competitors. Thanks to all the Coaches, Committee, parents and friends who made this gala such a success by showing up ready to help on the day.
Sponsorship acknowledgement
The Club would like to thank the following for their kind and generous sponsorship. This money will be used wisely and will help enormously with the running of our swimming club. Thanks to: