Festival fun at UL Masters swimming event

MUNSTER Swimming introduced a festival of swimming for the first time this summer. 

The event at University of Limerick and targeted the athletes, aged 10 & upward, who had not qualified for end of year Summer Nationals. The ethos of the meet was about fun, inclusion, and enjoyment. With that in mind, some novelty events were introduced, and spot prizes were awarded throughout the day.

The meet was split into two sections. The morning session catered for children aged 10 to 12 years. The afternoon session catered for children aged 13 & over. In the younger age group, events were limited to 50m & 100m. Swimmers were restricted to a total of four events, but could only swim one distance in each stroke. 

Events were Heat Declared Winners (HDW), but the novelty aspect for this age group was that the top 10 swimmers combined World Aquatic points, combining all the individual events (max 4) , qualified for a ‘Super IM Final’. There was a Super Final in the 11 & 12 age groups. There was great excitement and expectation as swimmers, coaches and parents waited for the announcement of those qualified.

In addition, the relay for this age group was geared primarily toward the fun element. There was no restriction on the gender make up of the relay, or on the ages of the participants. As a result, clubs entered multiple teams, adding to the excitement on the day.

The events for the older age group were 100m & 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke. There was no limit on the number of events the swimmers could enter in this age group. Again, the events were HDW, but the novelty for this age group was that the top 10 swimmers overall (based on individual single World Aquatic points obtained in individual events) qualified for a Medley Skins Final. 

There was one Skins final in each age group and gender. While Skins finals are common in national and international meets, they would not be a common event at this level.

The Skins finals were the highlight of the festival. The stroke to be swum on each leg was pulled by the Regional Pathway Coach on each leg, with the slowest two swimmers eliminated each time, culminating in the grand final.

The relay for this age group was also a novel idea. It did not follow the usual distance and instead the first swimmer swam 25m, the second 50m, third 75m and the final swimmer 100m. This also attracted multiple entries from the clubs.

Cillian Turner from Streamline club in Cobh was the top Cork performer in the younger session. Swimming in the 10 year old category, he claimed three victories. They came at 50m breaststroke where he was joined on the podium by clubmate Thomas Anglim. His other victories came at 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle. He had to settle for silver at 50m butterfly, where he was also joined by Anglim, in third place. Anglim had two victories of his own. They came at 100m backstroke and 50m freestyle.

Martha Walsh (11) won bronze for Cobh in the 50m backstroke. Regina Orban (12) was victorious at 50m freestyle and Patrick McLoughlin (12) completed the Cobh medals with silver at 50m freestyle and bronze at 50m breaststroke. He qualified for the Super final and placed 7th overall.

Danila Saptefrati (14) was the top performer for Fermoy SC. He was victorious at 50m butterfly, 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke. He had to settle for silver at 100m freestyle. David Dixon (15) won gold at 100m breaststroke, also for the Fermoy club.

Lucia Miao (11), Fermoy was the gold medallist at 100m breaststroke. She also qualified for the Super IM final and narrowly missed out on bronze 1:32.81 losing out to Lucy Lee O’Donnell, Waterford on 1:32.66.

Muirne McMahon (11) Clonakilty, was the silver medallist at 100m breaststroke and bronze medallist at 50m freestyle. She also qualified for the Super Final, and placed 6th overall. Her older sister Maya (15) won bronze at 200m freestyle James Deegan (15) won gold at 200m freestyle but had to settle for bronze over the shorter 100m. Elva McAuley(15) won double silver at 50m butterfly and 100m backstroke.