Swimmers impress at Development 1 Gala

On Saturday, January 12, we were at the Development 1 Gala in Mallow where Fermoy Swimming Club was well represented. They did us all proud and there were plenty of pbs and medals to show for their efforts.

Starting with the boys on the day, Adam Duggan swam in 3 events and came home with 3 gold medals and knocked almost 6 seconds off his 100m freestyle – an amazing swim – Adam also secured his Grade 1 time. Peter Verling swam the 100m freestyle, 100m IM and the 50m freestyle where he pb’d by a super 4.47sec which is brilliant over 50m distance.

Maciej Sawicki was competing at a Munster Gala for the first time and did not show any nerves as he swam a great 100m freestyle and was also back in action in the afternoon in the 100m IM. It won’t be too long before he will be back competing again and knocking some more time off.

The McHugh brothers were competing for Fermoy Swimming Club for the first time and had a great day. Sean swam the 50m breaststroke, 100m IM, 50m backstroke and the 50m freestyle – he had some lovely swims and Pbs to go home with. Conor swam in the 100m freestyle, where he had a pb of almost 5sec, 50m breaststroke, 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle and to make it interesting there was a bit of rivalry in the 50m freestyle! I think the spin home could have been interesting. Well done boys.

Luke Harrington took the day in his stride and swam the 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke and 50m backstroke and had great swims and I look forward to seeing him the pool again soon. Dara Hanrahan swam in four events on the day and was a little nervous to start off with but settled nicely throughout the day and finished with a great pb in the 50m backstroke.

Padraig O’Toole and Fergal O’Connell swam great races throughout the day and had great pbs also, Padraig in the 50m breaststroke & 100m IM and Fergal in the 50m freestyle. Enda Terry swam in the 50m breaststroke, 50m backstroke, 50m freestyle & 100m IM where he swam a great race and was delighted afterwards. Louis Gorey swam in the 50m breaststroke where he claimed a bronze medal and the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke where he claimed two pbs to make it a great day for him.

His sister Emily also had a great day and swam beautifully in the 100m IM to knock over 6sec off her previous best then followed that up by swimming the 50m freestyle and breaststroke and knocked time off her personal best in both and in doing so has achieved the Grade 2 standard so now moves onto the next level.

Luca Salvatori swam the 50m fly, 50m backstroke and 100m IM and came home with 2 golds and 1 silver for his efforts. What makes it more special is that Luca forgot to put his goggles on for the 50m fly and knocked almost 12sec off on the way to the gold medal! Brilliant.

Oisín Morrison swam in the 100m IM, 50m backstroke and 50m breaststroke where he achieved three pbs and just lost out on two medals in the process, no doubt he will go for the medals the next day.

On to the girls events and I don’t know where to start. Emma Crowley swam in the 100m IM and 50m freestyle and swam beautifully, even catching the eye of other coaches with her lovely IM swim. Siun Carey and Margaret Verling swimming the 100m IM & the 50m breaststroke together while Margaret also had the 50m freestyle where she knocked 4sec off her time and Siun swimming the 50m backstroke and getting a pb in that. Well done girls, keep it up.

Grace Duggan swam in two events on the day – 100m IM & the 100m freestyle and received a gold in the IM and came 3rd in the freestyle, knocking a huge 6sec off her time and achieving the Grade 2 standard in doing so.

Keela Enright took to the water in the 100m IM, 100m freestyle and 50m breaststroke and had a tough start in the IM but came back strong and swam really well in the rest of her events on the day. Clodagh Whelan swam in the 100m IM and freestyle and came 3rd in the freestyle with a great swim, knocking 5sec off her time. Maria Murphy was taking part in Munster Galas for the first time and did brilliantly, if she was nervous then she never showed it. She swam in the 100m IM, 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke and went home with some great times and will be getting some pbs the next time out.

Meabh Lee swam in the 100m IM, 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle and even after an issue with goggles she continued to swim and finished very strongly and even pb’d in the 100m IM. Another few girls to join the Munster gala circuit were Emily Donohoe, Lauren Kiely & Lauryn O’Donovan and they did not disappoint, swimming brilliantly throughout a long day for them and they did Fermoy proud, keep up the training and aim for those pbs at the next gala.

And last but by no means least, we had Aoife Morrison swimming not in her first gala but in her first Development 1. She took it in her stride and smiled her way through the day and knocked 4sec off her 100m freestyle time and followed that up with great swims in the 50m breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle.

A long day, but four swimmers achieved their Grade 2 times, Emily Gorey, Luca Salvatori, Grace Duggan and Clodagh Whelan, well done swimmers. A huge thank you to Mallow for hosting us and to all the parents who travelled and helped out on the day, it was much appreciated.

And finally, thanks from everyone to Coach Warren for looking after the swimmers at the gala, and for being there after each race for analysis, advice and a well-placed word of wisdom, as always.

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