Timetable 2010

Held at the at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin, this was the final domestic competition of the and season and saw over three hundred swimmers competing for Irish National titles over four days of exciting and intense competition.  This year the competition was given extra impetus by the entry of visiting teams from South Africa, Egypt, France and Scotland as well as foreign-based top Irish swimmers using it as preparation for upcoming European Championships.  In any normal year, qualifying a final is an achievement in itself, but with such an impressive international contingent, securing that lane for the evening session would be outstanding for the young City athletes.

As it transpired, the opening day of the meet suggested that the eleven-strong Lisburn team were more than up for the job with Bethany Carson and Katie Reid opening their accounts by securing gold medal honours in their respective age divisions in the 200m freestyle.  Bethany’s time of 2:06.00 in the senior group was her seasons best whilst Katie’s time of 2:08.76 in the female youth age group (16 years) was more than enough to see her safely clear of the field.  Club captain Katie supplemented this with another gold medal performance in the 100m backstroke event winning in a time of 1:06.89.

The boys also got in on the individual medal action.  In the 200m freestyle, Adam Matthews secured the silver medal in the youth age group (17-18 years) with an outstanding new personal best time of 1:56.84 meeting the qualification standard for the Swim Ireland regional high performance squad.  Similarly, in the 16&U age group, David Thompson took the bronze medal with a new best time of 2:00.52 and qualified for the SI regional high performance development squad.  Shaving some 9 seconds off his previous best time and setting a new club record in the gruelling youth 200m butterfly event, Lee Galloway secured the bronze medal with a determined swim whilst also in the 200m fly, Jemma Bingham had to settle for fifth place in the final of the girls 15&U age group.

The day was rounded off in superb style with the 400m freestyle relay finals.  The boys 18&U team of Adam Matthews, Kourosh Abelehkoob, David Thompson and Lee Galloway comfortably secured the gold medal some three seconds clear of the trailing field in a new club record time of 3:43.09.  Whilst in the girls 16&U event, the team of Jemma Bingham, Rachel Smyth, Sarah Mageean and Katie Reid were rewarded for their efforts with a fine bronze medal place.

The medal chase continued on the second day with a strong showing in the 100m freestyle events.  Bethany Carson & Katie Reid each secured silver medals in their age groups in times of 58.36 and 59.70 respectively before Beth went on to add to her personal medal haul with a superb bronze medal in the ladies open 50m fly.  Adam Matthews lowered his pb under the 54 second mark to claim bronze in the 17-18 age group whilst John Coulter also struck bronze in the boys 16&U 100m breaststroke with a new personal best time of 1:13.64.  Adam’s time of 27.24 in the heats of the men’s open 50m fly event also earned him a semi-final berth and despite securing finals swims of their own, David Thompson had to settle for 5^th place in the 100m free in a very strong 16&U age group whilst Jemma Bingham also found the opposition tough going, finishing 7^th in the 15&U 400m individual medley.

The 800m freestyle relays on day two finished with a similar outcome to day one.  The boy’s team was the same line-up and despite a much more exciting finish anchored superbly by Lee Galloway, they managed to ascend the top of the podium and set a new club record of 8:07.29.  Also sporting the same line-up as the previous day, the girls relay team secured the bronze medal in a time of 9:14.40.

Day three saw two more medals for Katie Reid as she cruised to a comfortable victory in the 16 age group 200m backstroke before sprinting for an outstanding silver medal in the open ladies 50m backstroke.  An established member of Swim Ireland’s regional high performance setup, Katie will be competing in the British Youth Championships in early August as well as representing Ireland alongside team-mate David Thompson at the UK Schools Games in September.  The whole Club would wish them both the best of luck.

Lee Galloway also tasted a measure of backstroke success, stopping the clock at 2:17.06 at the 200m distance to secure the bronze medal as well as enjoying an outing in the semi-final at the 50m distance.  Adam Matthews and David Thompson continued to bring out the best in each other in the 400m freestyle.  With a heat qualifying time and six second pb of 4:19.88, David set a new club record for the distance.  However, he was unable to better it in his 16&U final and was nudged into 4^th place before watching Adam take bronze in his final and shave another six tenths of a second off for a time of 4:19.20.  David also recorded another superb pb swim in the 200m backstroke finishing 5^th in a time of 2:21.33.  Sarah O’Callaghan and Rachel Smyth also enjoyed strong finals outings but were unlucky to finish outside the medals.  In the 400m freestyle, Sarah lowered her pb to 4:55.27 for a fine fifth placing whilst Rachel’s battling 100m fly time of 1:09.64 also earned her 5^th place in the closest of finishes.

The curtain was brought down on day three with the 400m medley relay finals.  Enlisting the breaststroke talent of John Coulter along with David, Lee and Adam secured the third relay gold medal of the championships in the men’s U18 event with a blistering new club record time of 4:13.72 whilst the girls finished 5^th in their final.

Finding her best form on the final day, Bethany Carson’s blistering gold medal time of 2:19.93 in the ladies senior 200m IM secured her qualification for the Commonwealth Games much to the delight of coach Andy Reid, her parents and supporters.  Bethany’s achievement was all the more impressive considering that that she was sidelined through injury for more than half of the season and it is testament to her steely determination that she has battled to return to her previous form in such a short time.  The time was also a qualifying time for the Swim Ireland national high performance squad.

Still on the medal hunt, Adam Matthews lowered his 200m IM pb to 2:16.60 taking the silver medal in the 17-18 age group 200m IM and will be pleased with his 50m freestyle time of 25.16 which secured him a semi final swim.  John Coulter’s new pb time of 2:39.60 in the 16&U 200m breaststroke was good enough to secure his second bronze medal of the meet.  With two tough swims in the 200m IM and 800m freestyle, Sarah O’Callaghan had the most demanding day and despite the disappointment of finishing out of the medals in 4^th place in both events, will be pleased with two new pbs of 2:42.04 and 10:17.82 respectively.  Similarly, despite finishing 4^th and 5^th in their respective 200m IM finals, both Lee Galloway and David Thompson will take the positive of new best times of 2:18.66 and 2:22.20.

Kourosh Abelehkoob and Ben Carey both set new pbs in several swims, most notably the 200m IM were they clocked 2:24.80 and 2:29.75 respectively whilst Rachel Smyth was unlucky not to make the finals in both the 200m freestyle and fly.  With 8 gold medals, 5 silver, 9 bronze and 49 personal best swims, head coach Andy Reid was very pleased with the overall results which represented the best performance by the Lisburn City Club in many years and was triumphed by Beth Carson’s success.  She will go to India with the best wishes of all her club-mates.

June 2010

Irish Age Groups Division II 25-27 June 10

Michael Mitchell (14yrs)                1^st 400FC, 3^rd 200BC

Caolin Derry (15yrs)                        2^nd 200BR

Bethan Harding (12yrs)                  3^rd 400IM

Nathan Jones (13yrs)                     3^rd 1500FC

Jonathon Stewart (12yrs)             3^rd 100BR

Boys 11-12yrs                                    1^st 4 x 50 FTR & MTR

July 2010

Irish Age Groups 9-11 July 10

Nicky Galloway (14yrs)                  3^rd 100 BC (CR)

Kyle Hayes (12yrs)                           3^rd 1500FC

Cameron McAteer (12yrs)           2^nd 1500FC

Natasha Pollock (13yrs)                 3^rd 200 BF & 2^nd 100 BF

Peter Sands (14yrs)                         3^rd 400FC, 400IM & 1500FC (CR)

Hannah Watson (12yrs)                 3^rd 200 BF

Boys 11-12yrs                                    1^st 4 x 50FTR, 2^nd 4 x 50 MTR

Boys 13-14yrs                                    3^rd 4 x 50 MTR

Girls 11-12yrs                                     3^rd 4 x 50 FTR

Other Achievements:

Aileen Morrison wins bronze at the World Championships Triathlon Series Meet in Hamburg 18 July 2010.

Irish Youth/Open Championships 22-25 July 10

49 PB, 8 Gold, 5 Silver, 9 Bronze, 9 Club Records, 11 SB

Bethany  Carson (17&over)         1^st 200 FC & 200 IM (CR), 2^nd 100 FC, 3^rd 50 BF

Katie Reid (16yrs)                             1^st 200 FC & 200 BC, 2^nd 100 FC & 50 BC

Adam Matthews (17/18yrs)        2^nd 200FC (CR) & 200 IM, 3^rd 100 FC & 400 FC (CR)

David Thompson (16&under)     3^rd 200FC

Lee Galloway (17/18yrs)               3^rd 200 BF (CR) & 200 BC

John Coulter (16&under)              3^rd 100 & 200 BR

Boys 18 & under                               1^st 4 x 200 FTR (CR), 4 x 100 FTR (CR), 4 x 100 MTR (CR)

Girls 16 & under                                3rd 4 x 100 FTR, 4 x 200 FTR

Other Achievements:

Bethany Carson is selected to represent Northern Ireland at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India 3-16 October 2010.

Bethany Carson achieves Swim Ireland HP Development Squad QT

Katie Reid achieves SI HP Regional Squad QT

Adam Matthews achieves SI HP Regional Squad QT

David Thompson achieves SI HP Regional Development Squad QT

Day 1: As anticipated the meet began a little slowly as the swimmers adjusted to their surroundings and shook off the long drive from the day before.  The talented Michael Mitchell claimed gold in the 13/14 age group.  There were also top eight finishes for Kyle Mawhinney 11/12 and Nathan Jones 13/14 age group.  The first girl up was Bethan Harding in the 200 Butterfly, who, having come back to form at the Antrim Championships, smashed her PB with a great swim claiming 6^th place in the 11/12 age group.  PBs also followed for Keelan Logan in the 100 Backcrawl, and in the boys’ 200IM Gareth Hill, Jonny Stewart and Alex Haskins all set new best times with Caolin Derry making the top 8.

On to the finals and the Boys 11/12 Freestyle Relay of Keelan Logan, Kyle Mawhinney, Ben Thompson and Gareth Hill blitzed the opposition to claim gold.  The 11/12 girls Medley Team of Amy Seawright, Laura Estler, Bethan Harding and Rowena Walker also made their final finishing 6^th out of 16 teams.  Caolin Derry was the only individual finalist on day one in the 15/16 years boys 100 Backcrawl and despite a solid PB in the heats Coalin finished 8^th in what was a very tight final.

Day 2: and Bethan Harding continued her strong swimming, this time in the 100m Butterfly, smashing her PB with another super swim.  In the boys 100 Fly Keelan Logan and Michael Mitchell swam solid heats to set themselves up for the finals.  The 200 Breaststroke brought PBs for Rowena Walker and Amy Seawright, with massive improvements for Ben Thompson, a very ill Alex Haskins as well as Kyle Mawhinney and Nathan Jones. Jonny Stewart swam a superb race to post a new PB of 3.14.83 and claim 4^th in the boys 11/12.

On to the finals and in the 100 Butterfly Keelan Logan gave himself every chance with a typically gutsy swim finishing 4^th with a 4 second PB. Michael Mitchell was next in the 13/14 age group and after a swift first 50 he faded just at the wrong time, finishing 8^th with a PB. The 11/12 boys Medley Relay team, this time with Kyle Mawhinney, Jonny Stewart, Keelan Logan and Gareth Hill streaked out in front, battling it out with Templemore for the gold. All was tight going into the Freestyle leg when Gareth Hill stormed home in 31.40, queue celebrations and gold for the boys.

Day 3: any thought of tired bodies was quickly banished as Nathan Jones, who has improved so much the season, held pace and came away with a very well deserved bronze medal and 10 second PB.  Bethan Harding, in the 400IM was also in the hunt for medals and after a brilliant technical swim and a 15 second PB she found her way on to the podium to claim bronze. Best times were achieved in the 200 Back for Michael Mitchell, Nathan Jones, Bethan Harding, Rowena Walker and Laura Estler along with disappointment for Caolin who finally succumbed to his persistent shoulder problems forcing his withdrawal from the meet. There where also PBs in the 100 Breaststroke for Laura Estler and Rowena Walker with Gareth Hill and Jonny Stewart making the final of the boys 11/12 event.  The 200 Freestyle brought more best times for Keelan, Alex, Bethan, Laura, Rowena, Amy and most notably Kyle Mawhinney who smashed his previous time with a great swim. Michael Mitchell was again amongst the prize winners coming away with 6^th place after a good swim.

On to the last set of finals and all Lisburn eyes were on Gareth Hill and Jonny Stewart in the boys 11/12 100m Breaststoke. Improvements on heat times were needed if they wanted to make their mark. With both boys in contention, a very close race saw Jonny claiming bronze with a great swim and Gareth taking over 4 seconds of his PB to claim 7^th place.

All in all this was a successful meet for the Lisburn swimmers some of which swam through illness and injury before and during the competition. Having competed with some of the best age group swimmers in Ireland and continuing to gain experience it is now their responsibility to maintain this momentum and press on next season.

It is for the swimmers who have shown the highest level of commitment, improvement, team spirit and work ethic in the preceding month

SWIM ACADEMY BRONZE:      Emily Estler

                                                                  Michael Jones

SWIM ACADEMY SILVER:    Eve Foster Brown

                                                               Dariush Abelehkoob

SWIM ACADEMY GOLD:       Bethan Harding

                                                              Jonathon Stewart

                                                               Gareth Hill

AGE GROUP SQUAD                 Hannah Watson

                                                               Cameron McAteer

SENIOR/PERFORMANCE     Aileen Morrison

                                                             Lee Galloway

Just a reminder that it is the responsibility of the swimmer/parent to get their trophy engraved before handing back to the Club next year for the next annual Awards Night.

Age Group Squad and Senior Squad swimmers will continue to train untill their respective Irish Competitions in July.

July Training 2010