After an exciting Opening night of racing where Jamie Flanagan (11) took a silver medal in the 1500FC, the 13 Strong TEAM from Templeogue SC were evidently in superb form as they delivered some excellent swims on the first full day of racing today. The first individual swims of the day for the TEAM were the 100BC with Leah Martin (11) smashing a big hole in her PB to take 4 seconds off her previous best.

As the 4 second rule set the tone for the event both Caroline Ryan (14) and Alie Martin (13) also delivered big 4 Second PB’s in their respective BC swims. As the boys got back on the block Jamie Flanagan (11) continued his great form with  PB to qualify for the Finals this evening as Ronan Tan (11) & Sean Kenny (11) also delivered PB’s in their first swims of the day.

Flanagan returnd this evening to further improve his earlier PB to finish in 4th place in the event overall. The 200FC proved a fantastic event for the TEAM as Leah Martin (11) posted a big PB to qualify for the final where she finished a further half second inside her heat time to finish in the Silver medal position.  The excitement continued in this event as Megan Culbert (13) smashed the magical 4 seconds of her PB in the event, before Caroline Ryan (14) took a massive 10 second PB and demonstrated just how much progress she has made this year as she qualified for the final where she went even further 2 seconds inside her PB set earlier in the morning, as she took GOLD in the event and was crowned the Irish Age Group D2 Champion 2014.

As the boys continued the PB trend, Sean Kenny (11), Daniel Martinez-Dunn (11), Jamie Flanagan (11) & Ronan Tan (11) all posted big PB’s with Martinez, Flanagan & Tan returning for the finals this evening in what was an incredibly tight finish as Flanagan (11) & Tan (11) touched home in the GOLD & SILVER medal positions and further PB’s while Martinez-Dunn (11) was an agonising 4th place but happy with his afternoons work as he too delivered a further big PB.

Another member in his first national championships was also delighted with his days work as Sean Maguire (13) posted a huge 10 second improvement to qualify for the final where he also improved on his PB from the earlier session as this evening saw him take a further 3 seconds off and finish in the SILVER medal position.  Fresh from their exams Matthew Parnell (15) and Traolach McKnight (16) had returned to this event having raced impressively last year and both boys didn’t dissappoint as they posted strong heat swims with McKnight qualifying for the final in his 16&17yrs age group where he further improved his PB to finish in 7th place overall. Further 4 second PB’s followed as Megan Culbert (13) led the way for TEAM TSC athletes as she posted a big PB in the 100BS, while Caroline Ryan (14) and Alie Martin (13) took 3 seconds off each in their respective swims to continue the PB record for the weekend.

In the final individual event of the day Daniel Martinez-Dunn (11) produced a superb Heat swim to deliver a big PB and qualify for the finals where he finished in 6th place overall in his age group.  Ronan Tan (11) & Sean Kenny (11) also raced the boys breastroke event and as earlier int he day and fresh from PB’s in other swims the boys both delivered strong heats swims, but alas failed to progress to the finals this evening. With a busy finals session this evening the event finished on a MASSIVE HIGH for the TEAM after the Clubs relays posted medal winning performances with young teams as they finished in BRONZE medal position as the Girls 14&U team of Caroline Ryan (14), Megan Culbert (13), Alie Martin (13) & Leah Martin (11) got fingernails on the wall to finish in race by the narrowest of margins, while the boys had two teams on the block in the 15&U boys Relay event as Sean Kenny (11), Jamie Flanagan (11), Ronan Tan (11) & Daniel Martinez-Dunn (11) posted a strong relay performance some 4 years out of their age group but impressively delivering a 7th place finish in the same event that saw the older boys race hard to a well deserved BRONZE Medal swim as Greg Sinnott (14), Matthew Parnell (15), Sean Maguire (13) & Ethan Brady (12) delivered an inspired performance as the last race of the evening to cap a truly wonderful day of racing for the TEAM as a whole. Peter Sherry, who coaches these athletes was delighted with their performance in the first 2 days of racing and commented ‘We had a superb start to the meet last night, with Jamie’s performance in the 1500FC and the TEAM worked hard to support him in that race.  The momentum from that coupled with the hard work all year carried some impressive results today with hopefully more to come over the next 2 days of the meet.  We’ve had a great day today and are well pleased!” The TEAM are back on the deck in the morning and the event finishes on Sunday evening 29th June.