The Mallow Invitational gala took place on Friday and Saturday last, in what was a very busy weekend for swimmers and coaches. Coach Paula’s skills were going to be tested, as the Tipperary Tigersharks gala was to follow on Sunday.
Credit where it’s due, our swimmers certainly acquitted both themselves and their club well over the weekend, with some fantastic swimming, smiles and enthusiastic encouragement from the sidelines for their teammates during the races.
And where the best made preparations didn’t always go according to plan, there was always plenty of support for the swimmers after their races.
Well done to everyone who raced in Mallow and Thurles, you should all be very proud of how you performed at the weekend – with every gala comes valuable experience for future meets.
Fermoy swimmers and coach Paula, who took a break last Saturday to enjoy the sunshine at the Mallow gala. Included are Anna O’Keeffe, Fiona Miao, Adam O’Grady, Zach Daniels-Howard, Bartosz Lipinski, Jack Duggan, William Verling, Oisin Finn, Ryan Ates and Alexandra Ohrim. (Picture: Declan Howard)
On the Friday evening, William Verling got our club off to a flyer, when he smashed his previous time by -16.16 seconds and won silver in the 12-13 200m Freestyle. In the 14-15 200m Freestyle, Jack Duggan and Adam O’Grady were competing, with both boys coming away with PBs – Adam took a very impressive -4.16 seconds off his previous time, with Jack swimming -1.55 seconds quicker than before and coming away with a silver medal.
Another PB was to follow in the 16 & Over 200m Freestyle for Oisín Finn, who swam a great race, -1.95 seconds PB.
Finishing off the Friday evening session for Fermoy, was Anna O’Keeffe in the 14-15 200 Freestyle who finished just outside her PB. In the 16 & Over Freestyle, Alexandra Ohrim swam a great race finishing just outside the medals.
In the 9-11 200 IM, Zach Daniels-Howard swam a very good race to earn himself a silver medal, and a very impressive swim from Sophie Baker saw her win a bronze in the 9-11 200 IM, and achieve the A time in that event.
On to Saturday, and first in the water for Fermoy was Jack Duggan, swimming the 14-15 100 IM. Jack was on fire and knocked an unbelievable -27.79 seconds off his previous effort and was unlucky not to have won a bronze medal for that heroic effort. Bartosz Lipinski was also swimming this event, and not to be outdone he also swam a very fast race finishing -7.17 seconds better that before.
In the 12-13 50m Freestyle, Ryan Ates swam a super race and took home a PB for his efforts, -1.36 seconds faster than his previous best.
In the 9-11 100m Butterfly, Zach Daniels-Howard finished just off the podium coming 4th in his event, with Adam O’Grady achieving the same result (and a stunning -6.95 second PB) in the 14-15 100m Fly.
Oisín Finn swam a fantastic PB in the 16 & Over 100 Fly, taking -3.68 seconds off his previous best in this event.
Next up was Fiona Miao, who despite having some back trouble, swam a -0.58 PB and won a gold in the 14-15 50m Backstroke – super stuff from Fiona.
Adam O’Grady was to finally get his foot on the podium steps, when he smashed his previous best in the 14-15 100m Breaststroke by -6.33 seconds and came away with a bronze. Well done Adam – an excellent effort.
There was another PB on the cards for Oisín Finn, when he took on the 16 & Over 100m Breaststroke and took off a very good -0.96 seconds.
In the girls 14-15 100m Breaststroke, Anna O’Keefe was agonisingly close to a PB and finishing off the morning session was Alexandra Ohrim, who took on the 16 & Over 100m Breaststroke and swam a great race.
The first event of the afternoon session was the gruelling 400m IM – not one for the feint-hearted – Zach Daniels-Howard had the bit between his teeth for this event and swam a superb race coming away with gold in this one, and a 7 second pb.
William Verling was next up, taking on the 12-13 100m Freestyle. Not only did William get a -0.15 PB, but also collected a silver medal here. Another medal was to follow for Ryan Ates as he swam his fastest race yet in the 12-13 50m Fly (-3.16 seconds PB). Ryan won a well-deserved bronze medal in this event.
Bartosz Lipinski was very unlucky not to medal in the 14-15 50m Fly after swimming a -3.39 PB, finishing 4th.
Despite her sore back, it was going to be a very good gala for Fiona Miao, as she took a huge -9.95 seconds off her previous best in the 14-15 50m Fly and winning a gold medal for her efforts.
There was a bronze medal for collection by William Verling, after he PB’d yet again, this time by -0.60 seconds in the 12-13 100m Backstroke.
The last two swimmers for Fermoy on Saturday were Oisín Finn who swam a great -2.01 PB in the 16 & over 100m Backstroke, while Ryan Ates swam a PB of -4.24 seconds in the 12-13 50m Breaststroke and took home silver for this race.
Congratulations to all the swimmers on the day, as well as the parents and Coach Paula and Team Manager Susan for looking after everyone at the gala.
TIPPERARY TIGERSHARKS
The Sean Treacy Pool in Tipperary was the venue on Sunday for the Tipperary Tigersharks gala, and would be the first competitive gala for many of the Fermoy team. Very well done to all who travelled – you should be very proud of your efforts. Full report to follow in next week’s notes.
CONGRATULATIONS
Well done to our members who took part in last weekend’s National Nippers Stillwater Championships in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin.
CLUB TEESHIRTS
Remember, if your swimmer doesn’t already have a club teeshirt to wear to their next gala, we have a variety of sizes in stock. The teeshirts are dry fit, meaning they don’t retain water, and are perfect for wearing between races. It’s brilliant to see our swimmers decked out in their club colours. Please contact 087/4191623 if you wish to purchase one.
