AT the Leinster Graded Gala, hosted at the NAC, Laois Marlins Swim Club had its most successful gala to date, not only in terms of medals but also in terms of unprecedented participation, with 22 swimmers competing in 72 individual events.
The benefits of the huge effort which has been put into training since early September were very obvious, with both junior and senior squad members recording tremendous times.
For the Leinster Graded Gala, all swimmers compete in grades from one to seven, determined by the swimmer’s previous best time. Almost all Marlins were promoted to higher grades, and 20 medals were picked up along the way.
Despite competing against Leinster’s top swimmers, some as old as 20, 14-year-old Eoin Donoghue, swam his way into the top grade in 100m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke.
On the day the talented swimmer shaved a total of almost 15 seconds off times that were already very impressive. Eoin took gold in 100m Individual Medley and 100m Fly, silver in 100m Breaststroke and bronze in 100m Backstroke.
Also leading the way for his club was Jordan Overton (13) who shaved an amazing 30 seconds from his five events as well as taking gold in 100m Fly and silver in 100m Individual Medley. He too stormed his way into the top grades swimming against competitors much older than him. His powerful performances on the day resulted in an invitation to join club mate Eoin Donoghue at Leinster squad training.
It was also a great gala for Christopher Carew who shaved off a total of 23 seconds from his three events, as well as picking up gold in the 100m Individual Medley. Thomas Martin took gold in 50m Breaststroke and he too shaved over 20 seconds from very strong previous times. Mathew Doyle shaved almost nine seconds off to win silver in 50m Breaststroke, and he PB’d in the 100m Freestyle too.
Conor Donoghue PB’d in all his five events taking gold in 100m Fly, and bronze in 100m Breaststroke where he shaved off almost 12 seconds.
Jack Rouget improved his 100m Freestyle by 17 seconds and his 50m Breaststroke by eight seconds. Christian Kenny-Carroll improved by eight seconds in 50m Breaststroke and Conor McMahon recorded strong PBs in all four events.
Junior squad members Ross Doyle, Sean Donoghue and Conor McEvoy all put in very strong performances.
New member Conor Dwyer, who only started with the club in September, very much enjoyed his first provincial gala at the NAC, recording good times in 50m Backstroke and Breaststroke.
There were nine girls competing for the Marlins. Tyler Dolan won gold in 100m Fly and silver in 100m Breaststroke, shaving a total of 10 seconds from very strong previous times. Her younger sister Toni also took gold in the 100n Fly and shaved over 11 seconds off her 100n Individual Medley.
Ellen Donoghue took gold in the 100m Individual Medley, silver in the 100m Fly and also PB’d in 100m Backstroke and Freestyle. Sinead Ní Chuinn won gold in 50m Breaststroke and recorded a PB in 100m Individual Medley. Sadbh Kenny-Carroll also had a great gala taking gold in 100m Freestyle and 50n Backstroke.
Zara McMahon shaved almost eight seconds from 100m Breaststroke as well as recording PBs in four other events. Alice Carew recorded her first official 100m Breaststroke time.
Junior squad swimmers Taylor McCormack and Molly O’Brien represented their club with pride and recorded very strong times.
