This weekend saw athletes from the TEAM compete both at an Irish National Competition (Irish Age Groups Division 2) in Limerick and also at the Scottish National Open Championships in Tollcross, Glasgow. (Scottish REPORT HERE)

Irish AGE GROUPS – Division 2

This annual event typically sees athletes travel to gain invaluable experience in racing National level competitions.  A total team of 21 qualifiers this year was one of the biggest the TEAM have had in recent years and in total 17 athletes travelled to Limerick to compete at the event.

The event kicked off on Thursday afternoon with the distance events and the club account was opened in style by Caroline Ryan (15) & Eoin Feighan (16) who posted strong PB’s to win their respective age groups in the 800FC or Caroline & 1500FC for Eoin.

The first full day of competition continued to be a successful one for the squad as the TEAM with Elsa Brady (10) and Rachel Roe (12) posting strong PB’s while Caroline Ryan (15), Anna O’Gara (15) & Keeva Bowe (15) also posted good swims fresh from finishing Junior Cert Exams last week.  Ryan & Brady qualified for the finals in their age groups with Elsa Brady picking up the Silver medal in another big PB, while Caroline Ryan also made the podium in 3rd place, where she too posted a big PB.

The 100BC for boys saw Sam Flanagan (11) open his account with a good PB, while Robert Van Breda (15) and Greg Sinnott (15) both posted big PB’s to qualify for the finals, where they again improved on their earlier PB to finish in 1st & 2nd place with Van Breda touching out Sinnott by a fingernail.

The PB’s continued in the 200FC as Elsa Brady (10), Rachel Roe (12), Ella McNair (11) put good PB’s on the board before Isabella Moes (13), Caroline Ryan (15), Anna O’Gara (15) & Keeva Bowe (15) did likewise.  Brady, Moes & Ryan all qualified for the finals with Ryan finishing top of the Podium in another New PB, Brady finished in silver medal in the 10&U also in a new PB, and Moes was very narrowly outside the podium but delighted with her big PB also to add to her personal success tally for the weekend.  Sam Flanagan (11) and Conor Kenny (10) opened the PB account in the same event for the boys as we saw 100% PB’s from the TEAM boys in this event.  Greg Sinnott (15) & Robert Van Breda (15) and Luke DeLacey (14) all posted PB’s with Sinnott & Van Breda making finals in their age, while Traolach McKnight (17), Eoin Feighan (16) and Matthew Parnell (16) all PB’d and all made finals in their age group.  Van Breda finished on the podium in a further PB while the other boys raced hard to finish off the podium and in good placings with McKnight also making a further gain on his PB.

In the girls Breastroke Emily Rossiter (10) & Elsa Brady (10) both PB’d and made finals, while Isabella Moes (13), Keeva Bowe (15) & Caroline Ryan (15) also posted good times but finished outside finals placings.  Brady & Rossiter put in strong swims in the final which saw Rossiter pick up a firther PB and a Bronze medal for her efforts.  Harvey Walshe (10) having only recently qualified for the event was pleased to gain invaluable experience in his first national level competition and was able to watch as team mate Traolach McKnight (17) posted a great PB in the heats and a further pb to win GOLD in the final of the 100BS 17/18Yrs+

This first day of competition fisihed with relays as the Girls of Caroline Ryan, Keeva Bowe, Isabella Moes & Anna O’Gara finished in 5th while the Boys topped the podium as Eoin Feighan (BC), Traolach McKnight (BS), Robert Van Breda, & Matthew Parnell (pictured right) and were evidently pleased with the overall result.

Day three of the meet opened with what is typically a good event for TEAM TSC athletes, the 400FC.

Some great racing saw Sam Flanagan (11) post a huge PB, with Conor Kenny (10) in close proximity, before Greg Sinnott (15) posted a PB to finish in 2nd place narrowly followed by Robert Van Breda (15) in 3rd and Luke De Lacey (14) in 6th place overall in their event age grooups.  ALL boys posted substantial PB’s.  Traolach McKnight (17), Eoin Feighan (16) & Matthew Parnell (16) were all delighted with their big PB’s as they too finished the event in 2nd (McKnight), 3rd (Feighan) & 6th (Parnell).

Isabella Moes (13) was unfortunately disqualifed for a technical infringement in the 100BF, after a strong performance, but picked herself up for swims later in the session in the 200IM where she PB’d in both Heats and Finals and finished in 6th place overall in her age group.  Elsa Brady (10) raced a PB in both heats and finals of the 200BC to finish on the podium in silver medal position, while in the boys event Sam Flanagan (11) & Conor Kenny (10) also posted strong swims, before Greg Sinnott (15) posted a good heat swim to qualify for the final where his PB was good enough for 2nd place on the day.

Robert Van Breda (15) continued his stunning weekend performances as he posted PB’s in the heats of the 200IM as his team mates Greg Sinnott (15), Traolach McKnight (17) & Matthew Parnell (16) put strong swims on the board that saw McKnight & Parnell join Van Breda in their respective age group finals.  All boys further improved their PB’s in the finals as Van Breda won his age group, while McKnight placed 3rd and Parnell in 6th overall

Ella McNair (11) kicked off Day 3 for the team with a big PB in the 400FC while Caroline Ryan (15) doubled this event from last year and posted another strong and well paced effort to finish top of the podium in her age group and in a fast PB swim.

The boys of Robert Van Breda (15) & Traolach McKNight (17) continued impressive weekends for both boys as they swam PB’s in heats and finals of the 200BS to top the podium in their respective age groups, while the girls saw good swims from Isabella Moes (13) & Caroline Ryan (15) but were outside the finals.  Emily Rossiter (10) also posted a PB in the heats to further improve that time considerably in the final en route to a podium finish in 3rd place and a big smile too.

The final individual events of the meet was the 100FC and the team was busy for the final event with Conor Kenny (10) and Sam Flanagan (11) putting in good swims but were outside the finals, while Robert Van Breda again PB’d in the heats with Luke De Lacey (14) posting an impressive swim also, before Matthew Parnell (16) and Traolach McKnight (17) finished off their individual racing with PB’s also.   Van Breda took a further knife to his PB as he then won his 4th GOLD medal of the weekend in his age group in another impressive swim.

The girls too finished a busy schedule of racing as Elsa Brady (10), Rachel Roe (12), Isabella Moes (13), Caroline Ryan (15) & Anna O’Gara (15) all swam well in heats but Roes PB just missed out on a final, while Brady, Moes & Ryan ALL progressed further in the finals with Moes in 5th in her age group and Ryan & Brady finishing top of the podium in their respective ages also.

The final bit of excitement came in the relays as the Boys  TEAM U15 (Greg Sinnott, Luke DeLacey, Sam Flanagan & Robert Van Breda) topped the podium, before the younger Girls 14&U of Rachel Roe, Elsa Brady, Ella McNair & Isabella Moes finished in 6th in their age group.

The boys and girls in the older age groups both TOPPED the podium as the Boys of Traolach McKnight, Robert Van Breda, Eoin Feighan & Matthew Parnell won out their event, before the Girls of Anna O’Gara, Isabella Moes, Rachel Roe & Caroline Ryan finished a very tight race to end a wonderful weekend of racing for the TEAM in style.

Well done to ALL who competed.  It was a great weekend.  Big Thank you to Coaches Peter Sherry & Colm O’Brien and Team Managers Antoinette & Ian and ALL parents who helped out over the weekend.