See message below from Fergal -

Absolutely delighted to tell you I’m back from a gruelling (but actually quite enjoyable) North Channel Swim; going from Donaghadee to Portpatrick.

• Job done in 12:21. Swim started at 5:00am and finished at 17:51.
• Oldest swimmer to complete the crossing.
• 4th fastest of 14 individuals to complete the North Channel.
• 6th fastest time of 18 successful North Channel Swims,
• This is the earliest recorded North Channel Swim and only one to have been in June since records started
• Coldest temperature at an average of <10 degrees> that any of the successful swimmers endured.

I will be putting the story of my swim up on my blog over the next few days. http://fergalsomerville.blogspot.ie/

Fergal

Blog                       http://fergalsomerville.blogspot.ie/

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Charity                 http://www.cancer.ie

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The post Fergal Somerville Completes 2013 North Channel Swim for Cancer Research appeared first on Swim Ireland.

The strong squad  competed in 93 races over the three days and came home with an extremely impressive medal haul of 25 Gold, 25 Silver and 13 Bronze Medals as well as setting 14 new Individual Irish Masters Records and Aer Lingus Men’s and Women’s Teams broke 8 Irish Masters Relay Records.

Aer Lingus Swimmers finished 3^rd on the Club points table behind English Clubs Spencer SC and Otter SC.

A full list of Irish swimmer results can be found below –

The post Irish Masters Impress with 25 Gold Medal Haul at British Masters Championships appeared first on Swim Ireland.

Greece’s Gianniotis was the eventual winner in a time of 1 hour, 50 minutes and 50 seconds, just under a minute ahead of the chasing pack which included Bryan. New Zealand Olympian Kane Rochford finished in second in 1:51:45 with Holland’s Marcel Schouten in third in 1:51:48.

Ennis native Bryan finished in 1:51:51 just 3 seconds outside the top 3. Bryan has been showing impressive form throughout 2013 and this result in Barcelona will give him huge confidence going into the World University Games an World Championships in July.

The post Chris Bryan 5th in Barcelona Test Event appeared first on Swim Ireland.

The divers, who range in age from 6 to 16 years, representing Ireland hail from Shamrock Diving Club and Diving Academy of Northern Ireland will each complete a number of dives and skills over the two days of competition. Medals will be awarded in 5 different age groups for each of the 4 circuits of dives and skills.

The competition takes place from 8.45 on Saturday morning and 9.00 on Sunday morning.

The Irish divers selected are: Jonathan Beattie (DANI), Angus Blomley (DANI), Amy Bolton (Shamrock), Molly Brown (DANI), Aaron Browne (DANI), Theo Browne (DANI), Anna Caldwell-Byrne (DANI), Seanagh Carton (Shamrock), Alice Centore (Shamrock), Lucy Creedon (Shamrock), James Dalen (Shamrock), Taylor Dunlop (DANI), Alexander Geissel (Shamrock), Oliver Havlin (DANI), Ryan Lyall (DANI), Maia Marci (DANI), Adam McConnell (Shamrock), Andrew McKee (DANI), Alexander McMullan (DANI), Emma McWalter (Shamrock), Sarah Power (Shamrock), Tomas Sarapas (Shamrock), Scarlett Shearer (DANI), Aimee Strong (DANI) and Peter Williams (Shamrock).

The post Minister Varadkar to Attend Celtic Tri-Nations Novice Cup appeared first on Swim Ireland.

14^th June to 16^th June 2013

Venue : Frauenfeld , Switzerland.

Competing Countries: Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Wales & Ireland.

The Irish Men’s Senior Waterpolo team will be competing in the annual 6 nation’s waterpolo tournament in Switzerland from the 14^th to 16^th June. The team have been preparing over the last 8 weeks with squad sessions in Dublin, Belfast & Bangor. A team of 15 players will be travelling comprising players from 6 Irish clubs as well as players who are playing in the UK & the USA. There are four first time senior internationals travelling. Also travelling to his first tournament as new head coach is Michael Banks .” I have had a very positive response from players with up to 24 players attending squad sessions. I believe we have a very strong team with a real mix of experience & new talent, I am confident that if the team perform to their abilities we will come away with strong results.” Team & officials

The Team selected for the 6 nations June 14th to 16th is: Chris Hodgkinson (gk)- Cathal Brugha Eoin Doyle (gk)- Sandycove Jonny Kirk- Cathal Brugha/Manchester Johnny Donnelly- Cathal Brugha Barry Murphy- Sandycove Gavin Curley ( Capt.)- Guinness Shane Moraghan- Half Moon Jozesf Krejak- Half Moon Mark Fitzgerld- Half Moon Kevin Johnston- Clonard Ben Mathews- Penguin Ciaran Walsh- Guinness/Watford Eoin Bridgeman- St. Vincents Russell Simpkins- UCLA Conor Johnston- Clonard Coach: Michael Banks Manager : Ian McComish Referee:  Steve O’Brien Physio: Cara Mulcahy

The post Irish Men to Compete in Six Nations Water Polo appeared first on Swim Ireland.

Chris Bryan will be the first of the Irish to compete when he swims the 10K Open Water event on the 22^nd July. Bryan has showed good form so far this season with a win at the Portuguese Open Water Championships earlier this month. In preparation for the World Championships, the 22 year old based at Swim Ireland’s Performance Centre in Limerick, will compete in a test event in Barcelona on June 14^th before he travels to Kazan, Russia for the World University Games on the 17^th July.

Canada based swimmer Fiona Doyle has also shown good form in recent months, she has broken both the 100m and 200m Irish Senior Breaststroke Records so far in 2013. Swimming for the University of Calgary at the Mel Zajac International Meet in Vancouver in May, Doyle finished second to London Olympian Tera Van Beilan in both the 100m and 200m Breaststroke. The 21 year old Limerick swimmer has also qualified for the World University Games in Russia in July.

European Silver medallist Sycerika McMahon made the qualification time for World’s during the London 2012 Olympic Games when she swam 2:14.76 in the 200m Individual Medley. Following the World Championships McMahon will take up a swimming scholarship at Texas A&M.

Swim Ireland has also selected Barry Murphy to compete at the World Championships based on his 50m Breaststroke time. Although only freestyle was included in the consideration standards for the 50 metre events, replicating the Olympic Games qualification events, Swim Ireland, on a recommendation from the National Performance Director has decided to select Murphy on his time of 27.53 in the 50m Breaststroke from Irish Nationals in April which was below the FINA A Standard and ranks him 10^th in the World this year for this event.

Murphy will travel to Rome in June (13^th – 16^th) to compete at the Sette Colli International in preparation for the World Championships.

END

The post Irish Swim Team Selected for World Championships appeared first on Swim Ireland.

The new ‘Irish Sport Headquarters’ is home to 19 National Governing Bodies of Sport and is part of a wider campus which includes the National Aquatic Centre, the Institute of Sport and the FAI. The Campus will continue to develop over the next few years and months with a new Dry Diving Facility planned for 2013 and Athlete Accommodation in the near future.

Performing the opening the Taoiseach said, “Ireland is a country that is passionate about sport and it is fitting that where possible we should have world class facilities to support, encourage and inspire everyone to get involved in sport. This Government has put a renewed focus on supporting sporting activities nationwide and I’m delighted that significant progress has been made in the development of the National Sport Campus over the past 12 months. The opening of the Irish Sport HQ and the arrival of 19 national governing bodies is a major step in the development of the Campus. Today’s milestone will also help foster the sense of community and cooperation which I know already exists in Irish sport.”

Irish Senior Squad members Barry Murphy and Bethany Carson were on hand on the day to help with the official opening. Bethany’s interview can be viewed here.

A keen sportsman himself Minster Varadkar visited the Swim Ireland Offices and met staff before posing for a picture with Barry Murphy and his new swimming cap!

Minister Varadkar said “When I was appointed Minister I developed a new vision for the National Sports Campus. We decided there wasn’t going to be any new stadium. Instead, we made lands and facilities available and invited the governing bodies to develop them.

The Campus is one of my four main sporting priorities, alongside the re-launch of the Sports Capital Programme, protecting funding for sport through the Sports Council, and promoting sport as an exam subject in schools. We have seen huge developments, and I’m delighted to be here today for the opening of Sport HQ”

The post Taoiseach Officially Opens new Irish Sport Headquarters appeared first on Swim Ireland.

The A final will be held in the newly opened Aurora Aquatics & Leisure Complex in Bangor. Donna Mc Guinness, Events Manager, Swim Ulster said “A prestigious final needs a prestigious venue so we are very excited that the Aquasprint A final will be held in the newly opened Aurora Complex in Bangor. This is a chance to give our youngest swimmers an opportunity to swim in the first 50 metre pool in Northern Ireland and we hope this encourages them to stay on the competitive swimming pathway. Good Luck to all swimmers who are competing”.

Andrew Hollywood, Marketing Manager of the Bangor Aurora Aquatic & Leisure complex noted “We are delighted to host the Forest Feast sponsored Aqua Sprint Junior Swimming League. Our main pool is truly inspirational and when set up in competition mode, with a full crowd cheering the swimmers on, it is hair raising. We are calling for spectators to support their local teams during the final and enjoy the atmosphere. Good luck to all those taking part”.

Deirdre Burns, Forest Feast Marketing Manager stated “Forest Feast is delighted that these young swimmers will get the opportunity to experience the fantastic Aurora complex at such an early stage in their swimming careers. The Forest Feast sponsorship aims to encourage more children to participate in competitive sports while making the association with healthy snacking. This boost for these swimmers at grassroots level will hopefully encourage them and their peers to continue on in competitive swimming as they progress.”

For further information visit: www.aquasprint.co.uk

The post AquaSprint Finals at amazing Aurora appeared first on Swim Ireland.

Swim Ireland has teamed up with NUI Galway with a view to developing a new high performance analysis system for competitive swimming. The development work is well under way on the new system which utilises innovative kinematic sensing technology. The new technology which is in test mode is being designed to deliver performance information in real time both to the swimmer and his/her coach.

The technology is the brainchild of PhD student Robert Mooney who is a former Swim Ireland employee. The development team is led by Professor Gearóid Ó Laighin of NUI Galway’s Discipline of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Funding for the research is being provided both by Swim Ireland and by the Irish Research Council’s Enterprise Partnership Scheme. It is hoped to have the prototype system up and running by early 2014.

Once developed, the system will be tested on elite Irish swimmers to measure, record and track their technical improvements achieved with training. Athletes to be tested will include swimmers based at the recently established Swim Ireland Connacht Performance Centre, based at the Kingfisher facility on the NUI Galway campus and which was officially launched last November.

Lead researcher Robert Mooney commented: “A coach can often observe where improvements need to be made, but having hard evidence to back this up is key. We want to facilitate a new approach to swimming coaching, allowing for improved analysis of stroke mechanics, race performance and energy expenditure as well as real-time feedback to the swimmer, enabling more efficient, competitive and quantitative swim coaching.”

“Any competitive swimmer will tell you just how demanding their sport is.  In a sport of narrow margins where the difference between winning and not winning can be little as one one-hundredth of a second, the availability of the proposed system might make all the difference”, explains Professor Ó Laighin. “With this in mind we are capitalising on low-cost, high-performance Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMs) technology coupled with innovative algorithms to achieve our goals.”

Peter Banks is Performance Director with Swim Ireland, the national governing body for aquatic sports in Ireland. Banks is no stranger to success, having coached US swimmer Brooke Bennett to three gold medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. “We have seen a marked increase in the success of Irish swimmers on the international stage in recent years, with medal winning performances by the likes of Gráinne Murphy, Sycerika McMahon and Melanie Nocher. This type of technology is very exciting for Irish swimming to be involved with, the project gives our coaches and swimmers an opportunity to learn more about how athletes perform in the training pool and helps us make more informed decisions around their training programmes.”

The post Irish Swimming Goes High Tech appeared first on Swim Ireland.

Over six weeks these elite families will compete against each other on the toughest endurance courses in the country. After each event the weakest family will be eliminated, until there’s just one family standing.

The winning family will walk away with a €15k cash prize and the title of Ireland’s Fittest Family 2013.

Overseeing the whole process will be four mentors, well known faces from the world of Irish sport. They will mentor the families, working with them each week on fitness, dietary plans and coaching them to elite levels! Already signed up are Olympic boxing champion Kenneth Egan, international rugby coach Eddie O’Sullivan and legendary Clare GAA bainisteoir Davy Fitz.

Each family team will be comprised of four immediate members e.g. Grandparents/Parents/Children/Step-Children. There must be a minimum of one parent and one male or one female on a team. The minimum age is 14 years old on July 1^st 2013.  There is no maximum age.

Run without limits… 

Climb to new heights…

Dig deep…

Get Physical… 

Show no fear… 

TAKE THE TITLE.

Enter your family into Ireland’s Fittest Family now @ www.RTE.ie/IrelandsFittestFamily

Tel:  086 0626111 

The closing date for applications is June 7^th 2013.

-ENDS-

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