FINA World Masters Championships Gwanqju 2019

August 19, 2019

Congratulations to the 8 Irish Masters swimmers who competed at the World Masters Championships in Gwangju, South Korea from 9^th-18^th August 2019.

The 3km open water event took place over the first weekend of competition 9^th-11^th August and we had three swimmers in action in Yeosu EXPO Ocean Park.  Jane Jolly, Cork Masters finished best of the Irish claiming a silver medal in the 65-69 age group.  Karen Molloy of Aer Lingus Masters came 13^th in the 45-49 age group, while Terenure’s Nigel Fanning placed 5^th in the men’s 40-44 age group.

The pool programme got underway on Monday 12^th August with 7 swimmers featured throughout the week-long competition.

New Ross swimmer Adrian O’Connor (45-49 years) had a busy week on the podium collecting silver in the 50m backstroke and bronze in the 100m and 200m backstroke, also setting a new Irish record in the 100m backstroke event.  The other male swimmer at the competition was Nigel Fanning from Terenure SC who finished in the top 20 in all his events in the 40-44 age group.

Aer Lingus Masters had a team of 5 in action during the pool competition.  Karen Molloy followed her open water swim with the 800m freestyle, finishing 13^th in her age group.  Three of the swimmers featured in the 55-59 age group; Patricia Reilly’s best swim came in the 50m and 200m breaststroke with 5^th place finishes in both events, Blanaid Walker took 10^th place in both 100m and 200m backstroke, whilst Geraldine Thompson best event saw her placed 14^th in the 200m breaststroke.  In the 40-44 age group Charlotte Reid placed 4^th in all her individual events, setting new Irish records in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events.  The Aer Lingus ladies rounded off the week with 4^th place finish in the 4x50m medley relay and 5^th place in the 4x50m freestyle relay.

FULL RESULTS