Day Three Report – Irish National Age Group Championships
The penultimate day of the 2024 Irish National Age Group Championships took place today in a full house at the University of Limerick Sports Arena.
Trojan claimed another national relay gold medal on the third morning of action in Limerick, this time in the 12-year-old boys’ 200 Medley Relay. Aran McCabe, Tom Kearns, Jack Herlihy, and Conor Baily clocked 2:30.15 to win gold. Silver went to Glenalbyn in 2:33.12.
A Bangor girls’ team, including Aoife Boal, Chloe Stewart, Olivia Falls, and Iris Kirwan, won the Girls’ 200 Medley Relay (12 years) gold in 2:27.23. There was another relay silver for Glenalbyn after they clocked 2:30.38, with Trojan coming third (2:32.75) and winning bronze.
In the Boys’ 400 Medley Relay (13-14 years), the gold was heading further south with Kerry club, Kingdom. Mattias Collins, Rory Kearney, Alex Ahern, and Ryan Van der Merwe posted a combined 4:36.77 to finish first. Lisburn claimed the silver in 4:40.22, with bronze going to Glenalbyn (4:43.54).
Trojan’s Eavan Ramsay, Evie Mahon, Eva Butler, and Georgie May Agnew went a combined 4:50.39 to top the podium in the Girls’ 400 Medley Relay (13-14 years). Bangor (5:01.17) claimed the second spot on the podium, with third going to Templeogue (5:05.50). Visitors Brompton were awarded a commemorative medal (4:49.79).
The Boys’ 800 Freestyle headed to the blocks this afternoon to battle it out for national honors. Anton Nieuwoudt ensured the 13-year-old gold didn’t have far to travel, as the Limerick swimmer went 9:31.55 to place first. Dara Hynes of Portadown was next home in 9:26.20 to win the national silver. Bronze was claimed by Dan McBride (Templeogue) in 9:51.43.
Baltazar Allende continued to impress in Limerick, putting on a dominant display to win the 14-year-old gold in a time of 8:45.50. His closest competitor was Glenalbyn swimmer Patrick Reyes, who stopped the clock at 9:26.20 to pick up silver. Lurgan’s Harry McGlashan was next home in 9:35.79 to win bronze.
Saturday night’s action kicked off with the Boys’ 100 Freestyle first on the schedule. Luka Griffin (Cookstown) was the first swimmer to take a trip to the podium this evening following his win in the 12-year-old race, in a time of 1:02.31. Portadown’s Bradley Walker clocked 1:04.68 to finish second, with third claimed by Eoghan McQuillan (1:06.14) of Lisburn.
Dara Hynes (Portadown) and Lev Lobanets (Dolphin) went stroke for stroke in the 13-year-old final, with Hynes touching first in 1:00.79 to win gold, just 0.06 ahead of Lobanets (1:00.85). Mendoza Rodriguez (Glenalbyn) picked up the national bronze in 1:02.84. Nicholas Rodgers of Brompton was awarded a commemorative bronze.
In the 14-year-old race, Trojan’s Baltazar Allende was first home to pick up another national gold in 54.27. Allende’s Trojan teammate was next home in second place (56.15), picking up silver, with Keir Donaghy (56.66) of Mid Ulster picking up bronze.
The electric atmosphere continued as the Girls’ 400 Freestyle took a trip to the blocks. Drogheda swimmer Jessica Sweeney was first home to win the 12-year-old gold medal in 5:09.75. Meadhbh Ní Riain (Limerick) claimed the second podium position (5:19.01), with third place going to Molly Lynch (5:21.33) of Celtic Waves.
In the 13-year-old race, Bangor swimmer Rebecca Lavery went 4:51.00 to win the national gold medal. Finishing in second place was Mila Pickett of Ards in 4:54.11, while third position went to Templeogue’s Olivia O’Neill (4:57.95). Zara North of Guildford City picked up a commemorative bronze.
Julia Dziedzic of Aer Lingus continued her flying form this week, clocking 4:41.33 to win the 14-year-old national gold medal. Laois Marlins’ Yifei Li was back on the podium following her time of 4:43.95 to win silver. Dziedzic’s Aer Lingus teammate, Lucie O’Keefe, picked up bronze (4:49.61).
Lucas Li of Tallaght topped the podium in the 12-year-old Boys’ 200 Breaststroke in a time of 3:05.11. Silver went to Glenalbyn’s Aidan Whitaker (3:15.77), and bronze went to Callum Brown (Portadown) in 3:16.02.
Dan McBride (Templeogue) and Fionn Walker (Banbridge) battled it out for the 13-year-old national gold in a closely fought race. McBride (2:51.38) narrowly edged out Walker (2:51.45). In third place, picking up bronze, was Logan Wiggins (2:53.01) of Bangor.
Cian Doyle of Lurgan was first home to win the 14-year-old national gold in a time of 2:36.47. Silver went to Larne’s Evan Houston, stopping the clock at 2:39.79. Limavady swimmer Shane Fyfe was next home in 2:40.08, picking up bronze.
The backstroke ledges were in the pool as the Girls’ 100 Backstroke was next up on the schedule. The 12-year-old national gold went to Olivia Falls of Bangor in a time of 1:15.40, with Jessica Sweeney (1:15.70) of Drogheda finishing closely behind in silver position. The national bronze went to Jessica Neary (1:16.63) of Drogheda.
The 13-year-old race was another tightly contested event as Trojan teammates Lucy Mowlds (1:11.51) and Sian McCrohan (1:11.66) battled it out for gold, with Mowlds edging ahead by just 0.15. Swan Leisure swimmer Lucy Micks was next to stop the clock (1:13.20).
Julia Dziedzic was back on top of the podium following her gold medal win in the 14-year-old race. Following closely behind in silver position was Trojan swimmer Georgia May Agnew (1:09.69), while bronze went to Agnew’s Trojan teammate, Eavan Ramsey (1:10.80).
In the Boys’ 100 Backstroke 12-year-old race, Lisburn City swimmer Jack Shannon was first to touch the wall in 1:14.06 to win the national gold medal. New Ross swimmer Oran O’Brien was next, posting 1:15.08 to win silver, while bronze went to Daniel Figala of Coolmine in 1:17.15. Brompton’s Roman Cazzol was awarded a commemorative bronze.
Dolphin swimmer Lev Lobanets bagged another national gold medal in the 13-year-old race, clocking 1:10.28. Dan McBride was next on the podium to pick up silver (1:12.31), with bronze going to Mendoza Rodriguez (1:12.65) of Glenalbyn. Nicholas Rodgers of Brompton was awarded a commemorative gold.
Helge Ho of Aer Lingus was first home in the 14-year-old race with a time of 1:05.83 to win gold. Following closely behind was Banbridge swimmer Shea Mathers (1:06.11) to secure the silver, while Coleraine’s Campbell Smyth went 1:06.78 to claim third spot on the podium.
The Girls’ 200 Breaststroke closed out day three of the competition. Ella Moore of Portadown went 3:09.29 to win the 12-year-old national gold. Maisy Donnelly (Lurgan) finished closely behind in 3:09.71, while Aer Lingus swimmer Ciara Ward finished third in 3:13.88.
There was another Portadown swimmer on top of the podium, this time it was Ella Kanis-Dickson in the 13-year-old race, clocking 2:49.50. The national silver went to Milena Zorychta in 2:53.13, while Julia Barrett (2:58.72) of Wexford finished third.
The 14-year-old competitors went stroke for stroke with very little separating the top three finishers. Anna Joyce (2:49.54) of Coolmine narrowly won the national gold, just 0.03 ahead of Bangor’s Grace Eyre (2:49.57). Third place went to Eimear O’Neill (2:50.85) of Cookstown.
The final day of racing starts at 8:45 AM tomorrow morning.
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