The Irish Long Course Swimming Championships got underway in somewhat bizarre circumstances at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin today.
The opening round of finals, which were due to starts at 4.30pm, were delayed by an hour after NAC staff were forced to halt the morning heats to clean the pool after two competitors were sick in the water.
The event holds added significance as it represents the last opportunity in the Irish calendar to qualify for the major summer competitions such as the world championships and the world university games.
2008 Beijing Olympian Aisling Cooney broke the Irish senior 100m backstroke record in the semi-final of the event. Cooney broke her own record of one minute 02.24 seconds by .37 and missed out on qualifying for the world championships by just .17.
There was also great excitement in the final of the women’s 200m freestyle, which featured a top class line-up, including 2008 Olympian Melanie Nocher, Leander’s Sycerika McMahon, Nuala Murphy (Trojan), Niamh O’Sullivan (UCD) and Bethany Carson (Lisburn).
McMahon, who has already qualified for the European Junior LC Championships in Belgrade, won the event breaking the Irish junior record she had previously held in a time of 2:00.79. Nocher claimed second while Niamh O’Sullivan completed the podium places.
McMahon also took gold in the women’s 200m butterfly final (2:15.82) and just minutes later added another for a hat-trick of gold medals by prevailing in the women’s 50m breaststroke final.
Leander ASC swimmer Conor Donnelly (16:09.35) delivered a gold medal-winning performance in the men’s 1500m freestyle final, seeing off Conor Turner (16:12.13 Aer Lingus SC), who has already booked his place to Belgrade.
In the women’s event HPC UL and Trojan swimmer Nuala Murphy (17:19.13) secured first place.
Today also saw a number of swimmers meet the consideration standards for various summer meets, including Brian O’Sullivan, Brendan Gibbons and David O’Sullivan, who all met the standard for the European Youth Olympic Festival in Turkey.
The competition continues tomorrow and concludes on Sunday evening.
