July 28, 2018
Day 4 in Dublin continued as the previous three had with more incredible swimming from our age group swimmers. Catch up on all of the highlights below.
100m Freestyle
Trojan Swimming Club’s Aisling Rowlands got the penultimate finals session underway tonight storming to 12-13 gold in the first of the 100m Freestyle finals. The 13-year-old clocked 1:00.69 adding to 50m and 200m Freestyle gold from earlier in the week. Ards’ Ellie McKibbin was the only swimmer under the minute mark in the 14-years age group touching in 59.89 for her second title of the week. Naomi Trait of Kilkenny claimed 15-year-old age group gold in 58.20. Maria Godden continued her fine run in the 16-year-old age group topping the podium in 58.76, she was joined by Toronto’s Honor Brodie-Foy who took commemorative gold in 58.29. And in the 17&O final, UCD’s Erin Riordan added to her 50m Freestyle title with the win in 57.40.
400m Freestyle
Aer Lingus’ Andrew Meegan had the swim of the night in the boys 17&O final storming back from 4th at the halfway mark to beat Dean Power to gold in 3:59.94, the only swimmer under 4 minutes. The boys 12-13 final threw out a cracking finish with Coolmine’s Maitiu Clarke, Matthew Hand (Ards) and Trojan’s Finn O’Neill fighting right to the end where only .24 separated them. Clarke managed to get to the wall first in 4:31.74, with Hand taking silver in 4:31.84 and O’Neill completing the podium in 4:31.98. Liam Custer (14) of Sundays Well and Kilkenny’s Brian Desmond (15) cruised to victory in their respective age groups touching in 4:22.86 and 4:17.65 while in the 16-year-old age group National Centre Limerick’s Eoin Corby topped the podium for the fifth time this week in 4:12.16.
200m Butterfly
Ards’ Amelia Kane added 200m Butterfly gold to 200m Freestyle gold this evening. The 15-year-old was the clear winner throughout the race cruising home in 2:21.70. Ards’ Tarryn Barr added to 100m Butterfly gold in the 12-13 age group in 2:33.12 while Glenalbyn’s Aoife Murray won her first title this week in the 14-years age group clocking 2:27.38. Aoife Bates of Shark Swimming Club, who had won 100m Breaststroke gold on day 1, took the 15-year-old title in 2:25.65, Toronto’s Honor Brodie Foy winning commemorative gold in 2:22.34. Clodagh Flood of National Centre Dublin held off Bangor’s Gemma Kane (2:22.52) in the 17&O age-group touching in 2:20.46, the fastest swim of the night.
Matthew Hand of Ards continued his impressive form in the boys 200m Butterfly final topping the podium for the sixth time this week. The 13-year-old had already won 100m, 200m Breaststroke, 200m, 400m IM and 100m Butterfly gold, adding the 200m title in 2:27.37. National Centre Limerick team mates Cillian Melly and Finn McGeever claimed the top spots in the 17&O age-group, Melly clocking 2:02.17 with McGeever home in 2:02.51. In the 16-year-old age group Ethan Murtagh (NCD) and Jeremy O’Connor (NCL) reversed the 100m Butterfly final result with Murtagh claiming gold this time in 2:08.93 and O’Connor silver in 2:09.51. Galway Swimming Club’s Tom O’Sullivan took over two seconds off his preliminary time to win the 15-years age group in 2:17.26 while Sundays Wells’ Liam Custer (14) completed the winners in the event in 2:20.65.
50m Breaststroke
Niamh Coyne completed a Breaststroke treble when she claimed gold in the 15&O 50m Breaststroke Final. The National Centre Dublin swimmer swam an impressive 31.23 seconds. The boy’s race could have gone to a number of swimmers with just .04 between the top three finishers. National Centre Limerick’s Uisean Cooke got his finger to the wall first in 29.84 followed by Liam Doyle (29.86) and Liam O’Hara (29.88).
100m Backstroke
Rowlands was back atop the podium for the girls 12-13 Backstroke after another fantastic performance from the 13-year-old. Rowlands clocked 1:07.86 for her fourth age group title. Kilkenny swimmers Naomi Trait (15) and Maria Godden (16), no strangers to the podium this week, won their age-group titles in 1:06.75 and 1:03.91 respectively. A fantastic finish in the 17&O age group saw European Juniors team members Rebecca Reid and Ellen Walshe touch in 1:03.90 and 1:03.95 for gold and silver while in the 14-year-old age group Templemore’s Charlotte Cullen collected her first national title in 1:08.73.
National Centre Dublin’s Sean Scannell impressed in the boys 16-year-old 100m Backstroke final. Scannell was the only swimmer under the minute mark in 57.72 seconds. In the 17&O’s Scannell’s team mate Rory McEvoy held off a chasing Belgian in Sjobbe Luyten (56.23) to touch first in 55.88. Harry Winston was the clear winner in the 12-13-year-old age group, the Aer Lingus swimmer clocked 1:06.97 for his first gold medal of the meet. Adam Geddis won 15-year-old age group gold, the Cookstown swimmer touched in 1:03.00 and was joined by Toronto’s Griffin Lajoie on top of the podium who took commemorative gold in 1:02.31. Custer of Sundays Well topped his age-group for the second time today for 14-year-old age group gold in 1:04.05.
Relays
Cork’s Dolphin Swimming Club took national titles in both the boys 800m Freestyle and girls 400m Medley Relay today. The boys team of Conor Foley, Richard McSweeney, Charlie Cassidy and Jack Cassin combined for a time of 9:13.76 and were joined on the podium by Hamilton Aquatics who took commemorative gold in 8:50.69. In the girl’s event Heather Fane, Cara McCormack, Hannah O’Shea and Ciara Gardiner touched in 4:46.99 just behind Toronto on 4:46.80.
In tonight’s final event Ards Swimming Club edged the NAC Swim Club for gold in the 15&O 800m Freestyle Relay. Ards’ team of Amelia Kane, Mia Davison, Rebecca Reid and Victoria Catterson clocked 8:45.10 with NAC’s Beth Gardiner bringing her team home in 8:45.74 for silver.
NPD Picks of the Day
- Sadhbh Bailey (New Ross) In the 100m Freestyle. She may not have won but a wonderful turn brought her back into gold medal contention and she held great stroke length all through the final 50
- Aoife Murray (Glenalbyn) in the 200m Butterfly. We all know how tough this event is and to hold such a great rhythm and controlled composure throughout the final resulted in a very well deserved Irish title
- Charlotte Cullen (Templemore) in the 100m Backstroke. Excellent underwater speed out of the start gave her the advantage over her opponents to ultimately seal the win. If in doubt, more skills work, better skills work, consistent skills work will win the day!
