Irish Summer National 2019

MEET REPORT – IRISH SUMMER NATIONALS, JULY 2019

Galway SC started of the Irish Summer Age-Group & Senior Nationals in National Aquatic Centre, Dublin from Wednesday 24^thJuly to Sunday 28^thJuly in positive fashion with podium finishes, final positions & personal best swims. 

Day 1 (Wednesday 24^th)

Leading the fantastic performances, Alison Gibbs won Gold in the U15 Girls 100 Breaststroke in a new PB time of 1.16.50 & backed this super swim up with a silver place podium in the 400 IM in another 3 second PB time. Hot on Alison’s heels, Emma Murphy won a brave silver in the same U15/100 Breaststroke race, while Sasha McAleer had an amazing swim in the U13/800 Freestyle event winning silver in a new PB time. 

Sublime finalist performances were achieved by Ben Naughton ( U16/100 Breaststroke), Katie Waters (U14/100 Breaststroke & 400IM), Michael Hussey & Sasha McAleer (U13/200 Freestyle), Cillian McCullagh (U13/400IM), John Patten ( U14/400IM),  Aoife Leahy (17+/200 Freestyle), Lauren Sharkey (U16/400IM), the U14 Girls 4×100 Freestyle (Niamh Kennedy, Ciara Davitt, Eimear O’Leary & Katie Waters), the Boys U14 4X100 Freestyle relay (Kaelan Geng, Michael Hussey, Cillian McCullagh & John Patten) & the Women’s 4X100 Freestyle relay (Aoife Leahy, Alison Gibbs, Lauren Sharkey & Isabelle Gibbs).

Excellent personal best & positive heat swims included Eidhne Kennedy, Kaelan Geng, Cillian McCullagh & Eimear O’Leary.

Day 2 (Thursday 25^th)

Day 2 proved to be another excellent day in the pool for GSC swimmers with Alison Gibbs again leading the top performances with a fantastic Gold in the U15 200 Breaststroke in a new PB time of 2.45.15. Fantastic bronzes were achieved by Emma Murphy in the Girls U15/200 Breaststroke, Ailbhe Mulhall in the U15/100 Butterfly, Ben Naughton (U16/200 Breaststroke), Tom O’Sullivan in the U16/100 Butterfly. In the Open 4X100 Mixed Medley relay event, the GSC team made up of James Symons, Alison Gibbs, Tom O’Sullivan & Aoife Leahy picked up an unexpected bronze in a very exciting last race of the evening.

Finalist swims were achieved by Katie Waters (U14/200 Breaststroke), while personal best heat times were achieved by Michael Hussey (U13/50 Free), Kaelan Geng (U14/50 Free & 100 Fly), John Patten (U14/50 Free & 100 Fly), Ciara Davitt (U13/50 Free), Niamh Kennedy (U14/50 Free) & Gillian Murphy (U13/200 Breaststroke). In the U14 4X100 Mixed Medley relay event, the GSC team made up of John Patten, Katie Waters, Kaelan Geng & Niamh Kennedy battled hard to finish in the top 5 in the highly contested event. 

Day 3 (Friday 26^th)

Day 3 produced more brilliant swimming for GSC swimmers at the Irish Summer Nationals. Alison Gibbs lead the top performance plaudits with her fourth medal of the meet with a sublime silver in the Girls U15/200IM in a new PB time of 2.28.15. Superb finalists were achieved by Lauren Sharkey (400 Freestyle), James Symons (Open 50 Backstroke), Ben Naughton & Tom O’Sullivan (U16/200 IM), Katie Waters (U14/200IM), Emma Murphy (U15/200IM) & the Open Boys 4X200 Freestyle relay (Tom O’Sullivan, James Symons, Eidhne Kennedy & David Doorly). 

Personal best heat times were achieved by Niamh Kennedy, Eimear O’Leary & Katie Waters (U14/400 Freestyle), John Patten & Kaelan Geng (U14/100 Freestyle & 200IM), Cillian McCullagh & Sasha McAleer (U13/200IM), Aibhe Mulhall (U16/400 Freestyle). In the Girls U14 4X200 Freestyle relay event, the GSC team made up of Niamh Kennedy, Ciara Davitt, Eimear O’Leary & Katie Waters & the Boys U14 4X100 Medley relay team of Sasha McAleer, Kaelan Geng, John Patten & Cillian McCullagh both finished in 8^thplace in their respective events delivering creditable performances in the process. 

Day 4 (Saturday 27^th)

Day 4 at the Irish Summer Nationals proved to be a superb day in the pool for GSC swimmers. Leading the top GSC performances, the U14 Boys 4×200 Freestyle relay made up of Kaelan Geng, Michael Hussey, Sasha McAleer & John Patten won Irish silver in an exciting race, while Tom O’Sullivan won silver in the U16 Boys 200 Butterfly and Sasha McAleer won silver also in the U13 Boys 400 Freestyle. Brilliant bronze podium finishes were achieved by Tom O’Sullivan (U16/400 Freestyle) & Ailbhe Mulhall (U16/200 Butterfly). 

Finalist swims were achieved by Cillian McCullagh (U13/400 Freestyle), Lauren Sharkey (U16/100 Backstroke), Michael Hussey (U13/100 Backstroke), Matt Freyo (Open/100 Backstroke) & the Open Girls 4X200 Freestyle relay (Aoife Leahy, Lauren Sharkey, Alison Gibbs & Isabelle Gibbs).

Personal best heat times were achieved by David Doorly (Open/400 Freestyle & 100 Backstroke), John Patten (U14/400 Freestyle & 100 Backstroke), Kaelan Geng (U14/400 Freestyle) & Niamh Kennedy (U14/100 Backstroke). 

Day 5 (Sunday 28^th)

The last day of the Irish Summer Nationals did not disappoint for GSC swimmers who yet again had a fine day in the pool. Leading the top performances Sasha McAleer kept up his outstanding performances with a silver medal in the U13/1500 Freestyle event in a new PB time by 45 seconds in 18.34.41. 

Impressive finalist swims were achieved by Katie Waters (U14/200 Backstroke), Aoife Leahy (17+/200 Backstroke), Cillian McCullagh & Sasha McAleer (U13/200 Backstroke), Matt Freyo (17+/200 Backstroke), James Symons (17+/50 Butterfly), while Niamh Kennedy (U14/200 Backstroke) set a new personal best time in the heats.

In the last event of the meet, the GSC Senior Girls 4×100 Medley relays made up of Lauren Sharkey, Emma Murphy, Ailbhe Mulhall & Aoife Leahy finished 5^th& the Boys team made up of Matt Freyo, Eidhne Kennedy, James Symons & David Doorly finished 6^thin a highly exciting & competitive finale to the competition. 

This concluded a fantastic end of season meet for all the GSC swimmers who amassed 2 Golds, 8 Silvers, 7 Bronzes, 32 finalists & 70 PB’s.

GSC would congratulate all the GSC swimmers for their brilliant endeavours & awesome swimming over the 5 day meet. GSC would also like to extend sincere thanks to all the GSC parents who did their part in representing the club at the prestigious meet in their officials duties & to the GSC Team Managers lead by Tracy Mulhall, who was ably supported by Trisha Murphy, Michelle Davitt, Yvonne Gibbs, Danielle Kennedy, Mary Waters & Ken Kennedy & lastly, to coaches Seamus Leahy & Head Coach Pearse for their excellent support work to the team over the course of the meet.

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