Young swimmers tackle Limerick Cadet Gala

On Saturday, we were in Limerick at the Limerick Cadet Gala where we had many swimmers in action, which was great to see. It was a first time gala for some swimmers and the first time to UL for others but they didn’t let that affect them.

First up was the girls’ 100m Freestyle where we had first timers Aoibhe Holland and Evie Mai O’Donovan swimming and they swam brilliantly and looked like seasoned pros. Aoibhe also swam in the 50m Freestyle in the evening where she won a bronze medal and let’s hope it’s the first of many!

Evie Mai swam in the 50m Breaststroke and the 100m IM later in the evening and had brilliant swims – she is looking forward to the next day out already. Kate O’Donnell swam in the 100m Freestyle, 100m IM, 50m Breaststroke and 100m Breaststroke where she took gold in both her Breaststroke events, with great swims.

Emma Crowley swam in the 100m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 50m Breaststroke and 50m Butterfly where she knocked almost 20sec off her 100m Freestyle and claimed a silver medal in the 100m Backstroke and just missed out on a medal in her 50m Breaststroke in what was a great day for Emma.

Aoife Morrison also swam the 100m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke and 50m Backstroke where she improved her time while offering great support to her fellow swimmers throughout the day. Margaret Verling, who is well used to galas at this stage, had a great day with improvement in her 100m Freestyle and swam brilliantly in the 50m Butterfly to claim a gold medal.

Caroline Sweeney, Lauryn O’Donovan and Emily Gorey all swam in the 100m Freestyle and all had great PBs in this event while Lauryn also swam in the 50m Breaststroke and 100m IM and had brilliant swims considering her goggles came off on both occasions – it didn’t stop her one bit.

Emily also swam in the 50m Backstroke where she got a 3sec PB and a bronze medal. Caroline also swam in the 50m Breaststroke and 50m Backstroke and despite an unfortunate instance at the start of the Backstroke she continued to swim brilliantly for the rest of her race, well done Caroline.

Emily Donohoe swam brilliantly in her 100m Freestyle where she knocked a huge 10sec off her previous best time then followed that up with great swims in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Breaststroke. It was a very long day for Nicole McCarthy as she was in for only 1 swim at the end of the day and the wait was well worth it as she swam brilliantly to claim a silver medal for her efforts.

Amy Hawe was swimming the 50m Breaststroke for the first time and a claimed gold in that and followed it up with a PB in the 100m IM where she also claimed gold. Amy was back at it again on Sunday where she swam the 400m Freestyle for the first time and swam a great time of 5:48 but was just short of her Division 2 time.

On to the boys, where they were out-numbered by the girls, but they all had a great day’s swimming. First up for the boys was Enda Terry in the 100m Freestyle – swimming this event for the first time at a gala – and it was a great start for him. He also swam in the 100m IM, 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle where he was delighted with his times and is already looking forward to his next gala in a few weeks.

Dara Hanrahan swam a brilliant 100m Freestyle where he knocked 6sec off and followed that up with an another PB in the 50m Breaststroke and then finished the day off with a silver medal in his 100m Breaststroke.

Luke Harrington and Padraig O’Toole both swam in the 100m Freestyle where both had great PBs and almost matched each other with times of 1:35 to start the day off on a high. Luke then followed that up with a PB in his 50m Breaststroke and then a great first time swim in the 50m Butterfly.

Not to be outdone, Padraig followed that up with PBs in the 50m Breaststroke and 50m Butterfly as well as the 100m IM for a full house of PBs for him. Peter Verling swam very well all day and had great PBs in his 100m Freestyle and 100m IM and won gold in the Freestyle.

Dane Fitzgerald swam in the 100m Freestyle, 100m IM winning gold in both events with very strong swims and now moves onto the next grade galas for him.

Oisín Morrison swam in the 50m Breaststroke, 50m Butterfly and 100m IM where he medalled in all events taking home a bronze and 2 silvers while also securing his times and moving on to the next level of galas – a great day for Oisín.

Louis Gorey, not to be outdone by his sister, claimed a silver in the 100m Freestyle with a 3sec PB, another silver in the 50m Breaststroke with another PB and gold in the 50m Backstroke while also swimming a PB and again achieving his qualifying times to move on in galas.

William Verling was swimming in the short course on Saturday in the 50m Butterfly and 50m Breaststroke where he claimed gold in both with huge PBs before resting up and switching his attention to the long course on Sunday in the 400m Freestyle and swimming a super race and finishing almost 5sec inside the Division 2 qualifying time for this year. Well done William, keep up the good work.

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