Isabel Kidney is a worthy winner of the Echo Women in Sport award for June

IN the world of competitive swimming, in Cork and Munster, one name has been at the forefront in recent months, particularly so, in the past two months. 

Isabel Kidney, Sunday's Well Swimming Club has established herself as the number one junior female breaststroker in the Munster region and is already making inroads in the senior ranks.

To break one Munster record is a major achievement, but to break three, over the course of one-weekend meet, is an outstanding achievement. 

Isabel Kidney did just that at the recent Michael Bowles Level 3 meet. She set two junior records at 50m and 100m breaststroke, but her time of 32.57 over 50m was also a Munster senior record. 

That incredible performance caught the attention of the judging panel. It, together with other recent highlights, have earned her the prestigious Echo Women in Sport Award for the month of June.

I caught up with the talented young swimmer who has just returned from a Warm Weather Training Camp in Torremolinos, where the training focus was specifically geared toward the Irish National Summer Youth and Senior Championships to be held in Dublin at the end of July.

An energised Kidney said: “It was great to have the opportunity to train, on a daily basis, in a 50m pool. 

"We don’t have a 50m pool in Cork and it is a huge disadvantage. All qualification standards for National and International squads and meets are based on Long Course times. 

"I must travel to Limerick every weekend to avail of long course training. I also travelled out to Tenerife in March with five of my clubmates, to prioritise training for the Irish Open. 

"That trip was particularly beneficial as it was such a small group and we had one-on-one training. This time, there were 42 of us from the club, at the Best Swim Centre in Mallorca. 

"We had two x two-hour pool sessions and one-hour gym session each day, on each of the two trips."

JOURNEY

Kidney’s journey in swimming began at an early age. She took up swimming lessons aged five and quickly discovered a love for the water. 

It quickly became apparent that she possessed a natural flair for the sport. As she successfully negotiated the teaching levels, the natural progression for this talented young lady was a move to a competitive club. 

She started early morning swim training at the age of eight.

Over the following years, Kidney’s passion for the sport only intensified, and she dedicated countless hours honing her skills and improving her technique.

Swimming is a difficult sport, requiring countless hours of training, in blocks, where athletes prepare for specific meets at intermittent periods over the course of the season.  She moves into her Leaving Certificate cycle in September and will transfer to Bruce College, Cork, where she can align her training and academic schedules.

Her weekly training schedule comprises of a two-hour pool session, seven days a week from 5.30am, with an additional two-hour pool session on Wednesday afternoons. 

To avail of some LC training, she travels to University of Limerick to train on Friday evening and Saturdays, at the National Centre with Coach, John Szaranek. She also does resistance training at the gym, four days a week, where she gets a family discount!

Kidney has established herself as a formidable breaststroker.  Her proficiency in the stroke also means that she has made great improvements at Individual Medley. 

All IM’ers know that the breaststroke leg is what ‘makes or breaks’ a race. She has also worked extremely hard at her freestyle in recent years and was rewarded at the Munster LC championships when she broke the minute barrier in the 100m final. 

She now sits just 0.5 seconds off the National standard at 50m freestyle and that will be her primary focus at the upcoming Summer Nationals. She had five victories in that Munster LC, winning all three breaststroke titles at 50m, 100m, and 200m. 

She also won both the 50m and 100m freestyle. That stellar performance was topped at the Michael Bowles Invitational when she was crowned the ‘Best Overall Swimmer of the Meet’ with seven victories from seven events. 

In addition to the three breaststroke and two freestyle titles from the Munster LC, she added the 100m and 200m IM.

Earlier this season, she travelled to Swansea as part of a Munster team. 

She returned with a bronze medal at 50m breaststroke. In addition to her individual accomplishments, Kidney is an integral part of various relay teams for her club SWSC. 

The National relay titles are competed for, at the McCullagh International each year.  Kidney was a member of the SWSC team which claimed the National Title in the Women’s 800m freestyle. The team won silver in the shorter 400m freestyle relay.

People think swimming is an individual sport. Yes, we have a lot of individual races, but there is also a team aspect with the relays, which is great fun. 

"It was great to win the National Title with the girls in Bangor this year."

Following the training camp in Spain, Kidney has settled back into her routine of training at Douglas pool with the focus geared to Summer Nationals. 

They will begin a taper in two weeks. Gym sessions will cease, pool sessions will be reduced and easier, with each of the team focusing on specific race events.

Kidney will compete in six events at the Summer Nationals, her favoured three breaststroke events, 200m IM and 100m and 50m freestyle.

This talented young swimmer has attracted the attention of US Universities and has already received a number of invites to join them on completion of her Leaving Cert.  Kidney will weigh up all these possibilities, together with the possibility of UK-based options. 

But sitting on top of the list is the Swim Ireland National Centre option at the University of Limerick.  This is a system she is very familiar with. Lots of decisions to come for this young star, but in the interim, she just needs to keep producing results.

Isabel Kidney is a very deserving winner of the June Echo Women in Sport Award.