Cork Swimming: Senior success for Leeside schools in all 10 Munster senior finals
Cork Swimming: The CBC team enjoyed great success individually and at the team relays, across all three age bands at the Munster Senior Schools Swimming Championships in UL. Picture: David Dowling
CORK swimmers in the senior age category completely dominated the Senior Schools Finals in Limerick.
There were 10 individual finals, five girls and five boys. Five of those 10 finals produced an all-Cork podium. Another three produced the top two placings, but there was representation from Cork schools on every podium.
Ellen Lee, Ashton, was the first of the seniors to claim gold. She was the comfortable victor at 100m backstroke 1:04.52, ahead of Izzy McGrath, Bruce College 1:07.28 and Jenna McArdle, Mount Mercy College 1:11.26. Lee had to settle for silver at 100m freestyle 59.17. On that occasion, it was Eva Harrington, Colaiste Choilm who topped the podium 58.74, with Emily Swinburne, Mount Mercy in 3rd 1:01.60.
Izzy topped the podium at 100m butterfly 1:07.57 with Swinburne in 2nd 1:08.07 and Amy Hawe, Midleton College in 3rd 1:09.84. McGrath also placed 3rd in 400m freestyle 4:47.38. Harrington placed 2nd at 100m breaststroke 1:14.14 behind Isabel Kidney, Bruce College, 1:13.21. Kidney doubled up with victory at 200m IM 2:24.94 with Michelle O’Shea, Scoil Mhuire gan Smal in third with 2:28.08.
Charlie Cassidy, CBC topped the 200m IM podium 2:10.66 ahead of schoolmate Sean Bugler on 2:14.06 and Ricky Fane, Midleton College in 3rd with 2:17.74. The CBC boys also claimed the top two places at 100m backstroke with Cassidy again in pole, 57.41 and Bugler in a tie for 2nd place with Rory Boyd, Mercy Mounthawk Tralee on 1:00.23. Bugler claimed a second silver at 400m freestyle. Senan Harvey, Davis College Mallow was the comfortable victor at 100m breaststroke 1:06.05. There was a battle for the remaining podium places with Eanna Garvey, Bruce College in 2nd 1:09.33 and Ricky Fane in 3rd 1:09.93.
Noah Switzer, Midleton College, recently named on the National Squad, was the victor at 100m freestyle 52.80. Alex Barrett, St. Francis Capuchin College claimed the silver medal at 100m butterfly 59.81.
The girls from Regina Mundi, Ellie Newton, Amy Lynch, Emma Glennon and Alex Harrington won the 200m medley relay. In the Freestyle relay, the team from St Mary’s Mallow, Daisy O’Toole, Alison O’Leary, Fiorna O’Keeffe and Anna Sheehan touched for gold and are the inaugural recipients of a Shield for this event. The team from Regina Mundi had to settle for second with the team from Scoil Mhuire, Katie Olden, Ciara Myers, Lily O’Regan and Shonagh Ferriss in third.
It was an all-Cork affair in the boys medley, with CBC’s Charlie Cassidy, Vincent Leahy, Sean Bugler and Josh O’Neill the victors at 200m medley relay 1:53.10. The team from Midleton College were second, Ben Coleman, Ricky Fane, Dylan Gunn and Noah Switzer 1:55.01. Presentation Brothers Cork were third, David O’Leary, Aidan McGrath, Louis Flynn and Jack Bugler.
It was a much closer affair in the Freestyle relay. This was the last event of the competition and brought the ‘house down’. The CBC team clinched victory on 1:45.45 with Midleton College in 2nd on 1:45.66.
The victory for CBC sees them retain the Shield for this event, but the team from Midleton College have laid down a marker and vowed to "be back for the Shield next year..."
Three of the Cork contingent in action at the Championships have recently been named on the National Squad. This is the largest representation from Cork, on National Squads in recent history. They are Lexi Dunne and Noah Switzer, Dolphin, and Phelim Hanley, Blackrock.
As members of the squad, they will have access to tiered support through international competition, onshore and offshore training camps and appropriate levels of performance support, to aid their home programme coach planning and delivery through to May 2024.
The first camp of the season was held in Dublin in early November and all the athletes enjoyed three days of challenging training, informative group sessions and educational gym sessions in the excellent facilities of the Sport Ireland Campus.
The camp was led by National Performance Director, Jon Rudd: “The National Programme is a cream of the crop list, of Irish swimming for both now, and the future. You would expect, that in the majority of cases, our National Teams going forwards will come from this group of athletes."
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