July 22, 2021
ETHAN HANSEN stole the show at the opening Finals session of the Irish Summer Meet when breaking his own Irish Junior Record in 200m Individual Medley at the Bangor Aurora Aquatics and Leisure Complex.
The 18-year-old touched the wall in 2:03.48 to shave 0.06s off the record he set in June at the Swim Ireland Performance Meet.
The National Centre Dublin swimmer beat Cadan McCarthy from National Centre Limerick and Daniel Kennedy from Ards Swimming Club.
In the Women’s 50m Backstroke Final local swimmer Rebecca Reid posted a big personal best of 29.37 to beat Jena Macdougald from UCD Swimming Club and Lottie Cullen from Swim Belfast.
Reid, now 20, set her previous personal best of 29.45 back in 2018.
In Men’s 50m Butterfly, Max McCusker inched closer to Barry Murphy’s long-held Irish Senior Record, lowering his personal best from 24.38 to 24.20. The target is 23.65, a time Murphy set in Barcelona in 2013.
The Dolphin swimmer showed consistency to swim that time in both the heats and the Final, beating Ards Swimming Club’s Paddy Johnston and Michael Hewitt in the last round.
Trojan Swimming Club’s Grace Hodgins continued to dominate Women’s 1500m Freestyle, bettering her personal best for the third time this year.
The 16-year-old posted 17:22.21 to win Thursday’s final and is now only less than one minute behind the Irish Junior Record of 16:28.47 set by Olympian Grainne Murphy in 2009.
The Irish Summer Meet is an opportunity for Irish swimmers to post qualifying times to earn consideration for international meets in the remainder of 2021 and early 2022.
Action continues on Thursday from 10am, with the finals session taking place from 5:30pm
Results: Finals, Day 1
Men’s 50m Freestyle A-Final
1 Calum Bain (Cookstown) – 22.45
2 Diarmuid Sutton (National Centre Limerick) – 23.26
2 Andrew Moore (UCD) – 23.26
Women’s 200m Freestyle A Final
1 Victoria Catterson (Ards Swimming Club) – 2:01.39
2 Julia Knox (Banbridge Swimming Club) – 2:04.77
3 Naomi Trait (Kilkenny Swimming Club) – 2:05.34
Men’s 200m Individual Medley A Final
1 Ethan Hansen (National Centre Dublin) – 2:03.48
2 Cadan McCarthy (National Centre Limerick) – 2:05.42
3 Daniel Kennedy (Ards Swimming Club) – 2:10.31
Women’s 100m Breaststroke A Final
1 Niamh Coyne (National Centre Dublin) – 1:08.23
2 Eimear Doyle (National Centre Limerick) – 1:12.03
3 Ellie McCartney (Enniskillen) – 1:13.85
Men’s 100m Breaststroke A Final
1 Eoin Corby (National Centre Limerick) - 1:01.40
2 Uiseann Cooke (Limerick) – 1:02.54
3 Andrew Feenan (National Centre Limerick) – 1:04.35
Women’s 200m Butterfly A Final
1 Hannah O’Shea (Dolphin Swimming Club) – 2:25.91
2 Alana Burns-Atkins (Banbridge Swimming Club) – 2:27.55
3 Jessica Gannon (Limerick) – 2:30.34
Men’s 200m Backstroke A Final
1 Adam Barnes (Ards Swimming Club) – 2:12.04
2 Evan Coulter (Larne Swimming Club) – 2:18.88
3 Robin Pfeiffer (Bluefin) – 2:20.47
Women’s 50m Backstroke A Final
1 Rebecca Reid (Ards Swimming Club) – 29.37
2 Jena Macdougald (UCD Swimming Club) – 29.87
3 Lottie Cullen (Swim Belfast) – 30.92
Men’s 50m Butterfly A Final
1 Mac McCusker (Dolphin Swimming Club) – 24.20
2 Paddy Johnston (Ards Swimming Club) – 24.55
3 Michael Hewitt (Ards Swimming Club) – 25.20
Women’s 1500m Freestyle A Final
1 Grace Hodgins (Trojan Swimming Club) – 17:22.21
2 Jessika Robison (Lisburn City Swimming Club) – 18:46.19
3 Hazel Bentley (Asgard Swimming Club) – 18:53.47
Men’s 800m Freestyle A Final
1 Finn O’Neill (Glenalbyn Swimming Club) – 9:01.11
2 Ronan Fahey (Trojan Swimming Club) – 9:06.99
3 Robin Pfeiffer (Bluefin) – 9:14.29
