July 24, 2022
After five days of competition, the curtain came down on day five of the 2022 Irish Summer Nationals at the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre.
First up was the Female 800m Freestyle, Grace Cochrane of Lurgan was the first to touch the wall to win the 15 yrs race, in a time of 9:42.96, claiming the first gold medal of the day. Breanna Chamberlain (Cookstown) bagged silver with a time of 9:55.48, finishing just .76 seconds ahead of bronze medallist, Clara Doherty (9:56.24) of Carrick Fins.
The 16 yrs were next on the blocks, Rebekah Friel (Trojan) clocked 9:25.43 to finish in first place, second to Friel was Lisburn swimmer, Aimee Dawson (9:44.25) who took home silver. Completing the medal winners was Jessika Robson (Lisburn), who touched in 9:47.13.
Ella Carroll was the clear winner in the 17 yrs race, the Limerick swimmer swam a time of 9:25.86 to take the gold medal. The silver went to Ruth Kelly (9:35.94) of New Ross, with the bronze medal going to Dara O’Connor (10:04.16) of Glenalbyn.
The last final of this event was the 18&O with Christin Mundell (Tukks) coming home in first place in a time of 9:04.63, ahead of teammate Janie Coetzer (9:06.00). Mundell (gold) and Coetzer (silver) taking to the podium to receive their commemorative medals. Phyllidia Britton (Ealing) finished in third place with a time of 9:07.91, also receiving a commemorative medal. The national gold went to Hazel Bentley (Asgard) with a time of 9:35.27. There was a tight finish for silver, with Hannah O’Shea (9:41.04) of Dolphin edging Limerick’s Jessica Gannon (9:41.67).
Next up on the schedule was the Male 800m Freestyle with Denis O’Brien (8:46.71) winning gold in the 15 yrs race, The Limerick swimmer touched first by under 15 seconds ahead of second place. In second and taking a commemorative silver was Rohayem Tolba (Hamilton) with a time of 9:00.76. The national silver went to Daniel Harvey (9:20.96) of Ards. Mark Gil clocked a time of 9:26.76 to take the national bronze.
Emmet Cousins (New Ross) bagged the gold medal in the 16 yrs, Cousins came home in 9:00.45, just .9 seconds behind was Killia O’Loughlin Brophy (9:00.54) of Coolmine. Aleksandr McAleer (Galway) clocked 9:15.84 to take third place and a bronze medal.
The 17 yrs were next to the NAC blocks, Adam Colgan (Lisburn) finished in 8:43.54 to take first place on the podium. Ben Moran of Aer Lingus touched in 8:46.72 to finish in second place and take the silver medal. Completing the medal winners was Ronan Fahey (Trojan) with a time of 8:50.81.
Patrick Ferrie (Lisburn) came out on top in the 18 yrs with a time of 9:14.99 with Niall McGeown (Banbridge) taking silver with a time of 9:29.38. The 19&O was won by Larne’s Nathan Wiffen in a time of 8:20.58, with Marshall Illingworth taking the national silver home with a time of 8:39.19. The bronze was claimed by Cian Foley (9:19.77) of New Ross.
The 13 yrs Female 400m IM, which took place during the afternoon session, Lucy O’Brien (Limerick) picked up the first national gold of the afternoon session, with a time of 5:25.26. The silver was won by Georgina Walker (Banbridge), who touched in 5:29.65. Behind Walker in third place, was Sarah Keane (Portmarnock) who claimed the bronze medal.
Emily Hughes won the national gold medal in the 13 yrs Female 800m Freestyle, the Larne swimmer clocked 10:03.76. In second place and taking silver was Sorcha Ni Riain (10:14.99) of Limerick. Up next was the 14 yrs, Clare Custer (Sunday Wells) swam a strong 9:28.37 to pick up a gold. Coming in at 9:39.81 was Portmarnock’s Ava Jones to win silver, in third place with a time of 9:44.02 was Holly McInerney (Templeogue).
The final event of the afternoon was the Male 800m Freestyle with Luke Merrigan (Dolphin) comfortably won the 13 yrs going sub ten minutes (9:43.32). Also heading to the podium was Dylan Brady (Drogheda) with 10:01.75 and Conor Carroll (Kilkenny), who touched in 10:04.90.
The 14 yrs wrapped up the last afternoon session of competition, Paddy Cuddihy (Kilkenny) clocked 9:24.12 to win gold, Ian Middleton of Glenalbyn came in at 9:33.52 to take the silver, while Kjell Laudon (Trojan) took bronze in 9:34.75.
We kicked off the last evening of finals with the Male 200m IM, Hamilton’s Zain Salah 2:27.23 and Blackrock’s Phelim Hanley 2:29.38 went stroke for stroke as they battled for first spot. Salah came out on top to win a commemorative gold, with Hanley picking up the national gold. Scott Duda (Longford) finished second to take the silver with a time of 2:30.81, while in third was Luke Merrigan 2:31.90 of Dolphin.
Visitor, Hussein Shawky (Hamilton) put on a great show with a time of 2:20.06 to take finish first in the 14 yrs, Shawky bringing home another commemorative medal. The national gold went to Ryan Griffin (Cookstown), who clocked 2:22.44 Joining the two swimmers on the podium was Ben Bickerstaffe (Lisburn) with a time of 2:24.69 and Andrew Mullen (Templeogue) to take the bronze medal, following a time of 2:27.64.
First home in the 15 yrs was John Shortt (Bluefin) in a time of 2:13.83 to take gold, Gene Smyth (Bangor) clocked 2:16.36 to win a national silver. Third place and a national bronze went to Sean Donnellan (Glenalbyn) with a time of 2:18.84.
The 16 yrs were next on the blocks, Maksym Dovbush 2:14.16 from Czech Republic touched first to pick up a commemorative gold. The national gold went home with Benji Cummings (Ards) in a time of 2:16.22 Coolmine’s Darragh Morgan (2:19.56) claimed a national silver medal, while bronze went to his teammate, Killian O’Loughlin Brophy, who came home in 2:20.10.
European Junior, Evan Bailey continued an excellent week in the pool by claiming gold in the 17 yrs. The New Ross swimmer swam an impressive 2:06.26 to return to the podium once more, joining Bailey was Adam Colgan (2:11.17) of Lisburn and Sligo’s Ronan Kilcoyne who finished close behind with a time of 2:11.88.
Ards’ Daniel Kelly came home in 2:10.55 in the 18 yrs race to take gold. Danylo Chobanian (Czech) won a commemorative silver with 2:11.84, while Danny Morgan (2:15.73) of Coolmine took a national silver. In third place and winning bronze was Niall McGeown (2:16.63) of Branbridge.
The final age group of this event was the 19&O, Ross Hartigan (Tukks) clocked 2:04.27 to win a commemorative gold, while John Britton (Ealing) finished in 2:05.94 to win a commemorative silver. The national gold went to Adam Wilson (2:10.44) of Banbridge, while silver was picked up by Daniel Mulholland (Lisburn) with a time of 2:16.69. The final spot on the podium went to Eoin Walsh (2:17.42) of Cookstown.
There was a change of events as we moved onto the Female 400m IM, the 14 yrs were first up with Niamh Connery (Shark) comfortably taking first spot and a national gold with a time of 5:25.37. In second place was Emilee Edgar (5:32.95) of Lisburn, closely followed by Ards’ Eva Hand (5:33.18).
In the 15 yrs race, Eva Bayley (5:17.92) of New Ross bagged a national gold, swimming just over seven seconds quicker than this morning. Lurgan’s Grace Cochrane clocked 5:23.30 to take a national silver home, with the bronze medal going to Olivia Miskelly (5:28.28) of Banbridge.
The crowd were entertained to a cracking race in the 16 yrs, with Aoife Doran (Aer Lingus) coming up triumphs to take gold in a time of 5:09.20. Ards’ Keira Aiken (5:10.39) finished second to take the national silver medal, while Megan Jones (Portmarnock) clocked 5:14.59 to take third place on the podium.
Toni Jamison (Lisburn) went five seconds quicker than this morning with a time of 5:14.49 to take the national gold in the 17 yrs age group. Dolphin’s Heather Fane (5:21.91) finished in second place to pick up silver, in third and taking bronze was Ava McNamara (Aer Lingus) in a time of 5:29.69.
The 18+ was the final race in the 400 IM with Tukks swimmer, Samantha Randle coming home first in 5:01.95, winning a commemorative gold medal. The national gold went to Hannah O’Shea (5:13.46) of Dolphin. Hannah O’Connor (Limerick) won silver in a time of 5:14.86, with bronze going to Hazel Bentley (Asgard), who clocked 5:19.55.
The Men’s 50m Butterfly was next up and it was another exciting race with plenty of swimmers close to taking a podium place. Tom Fannon (Laser) won the gold medal, following his time of 24.22. Andrew Moore 24.88 of Galway took silver, while Tuks Phillip DeLange bagged bronze in 25.07.
The final individual race of the 2022 Summer Nationals was the Women’s 50m Butterfly. Tuks teammates Caitlin De Lange (27.25) and Inge Weidemann (27.33) won gold and silver while bronze was claimed by Ellie McKibbin of Ards in a time of 27.80.
Another record fell this week, this time it was in the Male 400m Medley Relay, as Ards set a new Irish Junior Club Relay Record on their way to gold, with a time of 3:55.68, beating the previous record of 3:56.15 which was also held by Ards. The team compromised of Adam Barnes, Matthew Hand, Charlie Eatwell and Cody Dunnion. NAC took the silver in a time of 3:59.24, while bronze was won by UCD, who recorded a time of 4:02.19
The curtain was brought down on the 2022 Irish Summer Nationals with the Female 400m Medley Relay, the race was won by Tukks (4:17.47), who collected a commemorative gold. Limerick picked up the national gold medal with a time of 4:30.63, while silver went to Sunday Wells (4:31.79) with Dolphin (4:38.40) picked up bronze.
Many thanks for your time and attendance at the 2022 Swim Ireland Irish Summer National Championships, we hope you enjoyed your time as much as we did. If you could please spare 5 minutes, to complete our short survey, it provides us with valuable information as we start our planning for next season. Many thanks and see you when we return after a well-deserved summer break.
