Four golds and development 2 status for Tadgh

Although this was a development 1 meet, several of our older swimmers attended this gala in Thurles last Sunday to update their times.

The following swimmers, who are training with the Torpedo squad were chasing times: Jack Duggan (gold in the 100m free, 50m breast); Adam Duggan (gold in 100m free, 50m breast, 100m IM); Sam O’Brien (bronze 100m free); Kayla Whelan Klonowski (gold in the 100m IM, 50m back, 50m breast and 50m butterfly); Eabha Burke (gold 100m IM, 50m backstroke, silver in the 100m free); Grace Duggan (silver 100m IM, and gold 100m free); Alice O’Donnell (bronze 100m IM, and 50m backstroke); Nefelia Pyrovolaki gained a PB in her 100m free and 50m backstroke; Melina Pyrovolaki gained a PB in her 50m back and 100m free.

The rest of the Fermoy swimming team were attending this gala as development 1 swimmers. It was therefore very difficult for them to win medals. But they did the club proud!

Tadgh O’Brien swam a great 50m breaststroke to win gold, he then went on to gain a super PB in his IM where he also won the gold medal, gaining his development 2 time in the process. Not satisfied with 2 gold medals he achieved the prized first place in the 50m backstroke adding a third gold to his collection, followed by a fourth in his 50m free. Well done Tadgh, not only did you go home laden down with gold – you are now a fully-fledged Munster development 2 swimmer.                                                      

Coach Jackie Power congratulating Tadhg O’Brien on gaining his qualifying times for Munster Development 2 Meets.

Ethan Armstrong is fairly new to the competitive scene but that did not stop him swimming an outstanding 50m butterfly. Not only did he bag the gold medal, but he also achieved his dev 2 time with 8 seconds to spare. He went on to swim a personal best in his 100m free.

Emma Crowley swam a superb 50m back to win the silver medal and get her dev 2 time. Luke O’Shea knocked off a huge 7.33 seconds on his 100m IM to gain his dev 2 time and win the bronze medal. He also swam a great PB in his 50m breaststroke hitting his dev 2 time. Only one more 50m needed Luke, for full dev 2 status!

Emily Donohoe smashed 9.11 seconds off her 100m IM to gain her dev 2 time. Emily then went on to take 4.09 secs off her back and 1.12 off her 100m free – a good days work Emily. Evie Mai O’Donovan must have dined on rocket fuel for breakfast as she took off a staggering 10.32 seconds from her 100m IM time to achieve her dev 2 time. She left some fuel in the tank to slash 5.62 secs off her 100m free and 3.06 from her 50m breast. Lauryn O’Donovan must have had the same breakfast as her sister as she also swam like a rocket, knocking off 8.84 secs from her 100m IM time. She went on to PB in her 100m free and 50m breaststroke.

Dara Hanrahan came back smiling from ear to ear from his 100m free – no doubt it had something to do with the 8.66 seconds he had just knocked off his time. He went on to continue to gain PBs in his 50m breast and swam a great 100m IM for the first time.

Nathan O’Flynn swam a personal best in his 100m free and took a staggering 8.90 secs off his 50m back. He also swam a cracking 100m IM for the first time. During the lunch break the gala referee came up to me and said ‘Jackie I have never seen such a good back to breast turn and your swimmer is only 11 years old.’ The swimmer she was talking about was Aoibhe Holland who did swim a magnificent 100m IM. It was her first time swimming this and amazingly she was only 0.23secs off her dev 2 time. She also got within a whisker of her 100m free time with a PB, followed by a super 50m breast.

Katie O’Donnell took a fantastic 6.48 seconds off her 100m IM time to miss her dev 2 time by a mere 0.56 second – never mind Katie, next time. The times kept dropping with 3.08 being shaved from her 100m free. She swam her first 50m fly in a great time of 51.07 secs – her dev 2 time was 51.00 – how close can you get!

Aoife Morrison swam a good first 100m IM followed by a 6.38 PB in her 100m free, finishing off with a 2.01 sec PB in her 50m breast. Meabh Lee swam her 100m IM in the fastest time yet, just missing her dev 2 time by a mere 0.83 seconds. Conor McHugh took 3.26 secs off his 50m breast while his brother Sean took 1.32 off his 100m IM. David Dixon, despite being under the weather, swam a super 50m breast slashing 4.49 secs from his PB. He went on to take time off his 50m back and his 50m free.

It was Padraig O’Toole’s last gala and we wish him all the best in the future, hoping that he enjoyed his time with Fermoy Swimming Club. Lucy, his younger sister will be staying with the club and we hope she enjoyed her first dev 1 gala. Luke Harrington swam a good 50m breast with a 2.33 PB followed by a 3.84 PB in his 50m fly, just missing the dev 2 time by a smidgeon – 0.62 of a second.

A long and exhausting day was had by all, but a very successful one. Thanks to all the parents who came and supported their athletes. A special thanks to the parents who helped with the running of the gala. Thanks to coach Jackie Power who helped the swimmers with their reflections on their performances. Finally well done to all the swimmers. (report JP).

What’s next?

The next outing for our competitive swimmers is the Munster and Connaught LC qualifying meet in UL this weekend. We wish the best of luck to our swimmers, can parents please check the duty rota on the website if they have not yet heard about their allocated role.

If anyone needs a club teeshirt please email memsecfsc@gmail.com to purchase, price €20.

Term 2 Fees

Membership fees for the second half of the season are due at the end of January. Payment is made online through our website, the link to the payments system is on the homepage.

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