‘It’s a long way to Tipperary, it’s a long way to go, it’s a long way to Tipperary but our swimmers hearts lay there’.
Well they do now as all the swimmers swam their hearts out to give an outstanding performance. Winning medals was going to be difficult as this was an open event so swimmers of all standards could swim.
Emma Forrester not only achieved her Munster Grade B time in the necessary strokes but in every single event she swam in. She also picked up a bronze medal in the 100 IM – a great achievement.
Cillian Fitzgerald swam a great 100m IM to take off 5+ seconds to fulfil his necessary times to now be classified as a Munster Grade B swimmer. He won the gold in this event and the 50m breaststroke and a bronze in the 100m freestyle – a good days work!
Liam O’Brien swam a cracking 100m backstroke to win gold and also took 10 secs off his 100 IM time to not only win bronze but also to gain his Munster Grade B status.
Clodagh O’Brien was on fire winning gold in the 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and silver in the 100m freestyle knocking off an incredible 7 seconds. Not to be outdone by her sister, Gemma O’Brien won gold in the 50m backstroke and bronze in the 50m breaststroke.
Niamh Clancy got off to a great start by taking 6 secs off her time to come within a whisker of her B time. One not to be defeated she came back to take 5 secs off her 50m backstroke to get the B time in this event and then went on to repeat this in the 50m butterfly and got her B time in the 100m IM by a whisker coming in at 1.46.99 when the B time is 1.47 it just goes to show persistence pays off!
In the boys 10 and under we swept the board with gold for Liam Og Hegarty, silver for David Noonan and bronze for Gearoid Carey. David Noonan also won silver in the 100m breaststroke and bronze in the 50m butterfly. John Lonergan won the silver in 50m butterfly and also achieved his B time in this event. William Verling obviously loves the colour silver as he won this not only in the 50m freestyle but also in the 50m breaststroke. Marc Callanan won gold in the 100m breaststroke and a silver in the 100m backstroke. Declan Morrison not only won a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke but also achieved his A time. His younger brother Oisin also swam very well in all his events but the 100m IM stands out as he knocking off an amazing 25 seconds.
The piece de resistance was the boys 11 and under 200m medley relay, what a fantastic event. The boys were neck and neck but just managed to push themselves to victory and take the gold.
Well done to all who swam and supported and thanks to Coach Jackie. I think all would agree we had very successful and fabulous day out.
WATERFORD GRADE ‘C’ GALA
Well done to our swimmers who took part in last Sunday’s Grade ‘C’ gala in Waterford. Report to follow from this event.
MUNSTER L.C. CHAMPIONSHIPS
Good luck to our swimmers who are taking part in this event in UL on this Saturday and Sunday, March 12 and 13. Saturday warm-up is 11.30am with a start time of 12.30pm and Sunday’s warm-up is at 9am with the event starting at 10am.
MUNSTER GRADE ‘B’ GALA
There is a Munster Grade ‘B’ Gala on March 20th in Waterford. Medals will be presented in U11, U13, U15 and Senior Age groups.
Well done to our members who represented their county in last Saturday’s Munster Nippers Championships with Cork Surf Lifesaving in Waterford. There were lots of medals won on the day as well as qualification for the National Finals being held in Tallaght in a couple of week’s time.
CREDIT UNION SCHOOL’S GALA
This Friday see’s the Fermoy Credit Union Primary School’s Gala take place at Fermoy Leisure Centre – best wishes to our member taking part in this.
