Brendan Hyland and Antoinette Neamt were in record-breaking form on the second day of competition at the Irish Short Course (25m) National Swimming Championships in Lisburn.
Hyland broke the 200m Senior Butterfly record for the third time in four weeks, his time of 1:57.82 took seven hundredths of a second off the previous record (1:57.89) set at the Coast Grand Prix in Aberdeen in November.
13-year-old Antoinette Neamt knocked half a second off the 400m Junior Freestyle record she had set herself in May of this year.
The new time of 4:09.31 held off her team-mates at Swim Ireland’s NAC Performance Centre, Therese Corry (4:19.19) and Clodagh Flood (4:24.44).
Bethany Carson secured her third and fourth gold medals in the 100m Butterfly and 100m Individual Medley.
Carson added to her 200m Freestyle and 200m Individual Medley national titles from yesterday with a 1:01.04 swim in the 100m Butterfly and 1:03.44 in the 100m Individual Medley.
Jamie Graham, picked up his third gold medal of the meet in the 100m Breaststroke Final.
Graham, who trains at Swim Ireland’s Ulster performance centre at Bangor Aurora, won comfortably in 1:00.78 with Sean O’Brien of Aer Lingus touching for silver in 1:04.11.
Brendan Gibbons cruised to 1500m gold in Saturday’s first final. The 19-year-old held off Irish record holder Andrew Meegan swimming a personal best 15:19.99 with Meegan touching second in 15:42.31.
Limerick’s Ethan O’Brien, of Swim Ireland’s UL Sport Performance Centre, was third in 15:55.73.
Following two silver medals on day one, Bethany Firth collected her first gold medal in the women’s 50m Freestyle Final.
Firth got the touch ahead of Danielle Hill in 25.95 seconds, with Hill just half a second behind in 26.46.
With two bronze medals secured on Friday, Hill finally got her hands on gold with a win in the 200m Backstroke. In a very close race the 15-year-old Larne swimmer beat the 50m Backstroke national champion Emma Cassidy (2:14.79) touching in 2:14.46.
Cian Duffy added 200m Individual Medley (IM) gold to his 100IM gold from yesterday.
The 20-year-old, who trains at Swim Ireland’s performance centre in Galway, swam 2:03.16 to secure his second national title ahead of Ben Griffin (2:04.09) and Sean O’Brien (2:05.18), both of Aer Lingus Swimming Club.
Niamh Kilgallen added to her 100m Breaststroke silver medal with gold in the 50m Breaststroke final. Kilgallen clocked 32.37 seconds with visitor Anna Doughty of Bolton Metro second in 33.10 and 14 year old Mona McSharry third in 33.35.
Jordan Sloan and Curtis Coulter won Saturday’s remaining individual events. Sloan (25.48), of Bangor Swimming Club, took gold ahead of Conor Ferguson (25.72) in the 50m Backstroke final while Curtis Coulter was the only swimmer under 50 seconds in the 100m Freestyle touching in 49.93 to win his first national title.
In Saturday’s Relay Finals, Ards were victorious in both the men’s and women’s 4x100m events. Ards men posted a time of 3:26.31 while the women swam 3:52.54 to win the final medals on offer for day two.
The competition concludes on Sunday.
Irish Short Course (25m) National Championships results - Day 2
Men 1500m Freestyle Final: 1st B Gibbons Athlone 15:19.99 2nd A Meegan 15:42.31 3rd Ethan O’Brien Limerick 15:55.73
Women 50m Freestyle Final: 1st B Firth Ards 25.95 2nd D Hill Larne 26.46 3rd E Cassidy Sundays Well 26.98
Men 100m Breaststroke Final: 1st J Graham Bangor 1:00.78 2nd S O’Brien Aer Lingus 1:04.11 3rd E Crowley Mallow 1:04.48 Women 200m
Women Backstroke Final: 1st Danielle Hill Larne 2:14.46 2nd Emma Cassidy Sundays Well 2:14.79 3rd Laoise Fleming Kells 2:17.74
Men 200m Butterfly Final: 1st B Hyland Tallaght 1:57.82 ISR 2nd D O’Sullivan Galway 2:03.52 3rd J Brown 2:03.68
Women 100m Butterfly Final: 1st B Carson Lisburn 1:01.04 2nd E Reid Ards 1:02.22 3rd C Flood Tallaght 1:02.55
Men 50m Backstroke Final: 1st J Sloan Bangor 25.48 2nd C Ferguson Larne 25.72 3rd B O’Sullivan NAC 26.21
Women 50m Breaststroke Final: 1st N Kilgallen Claremorris 32.37 2nd A Doughty Bolton Metro 33.10 3rdM McSharry Marlins 33.35
Men 200m IM Final: 1st C Duffy Galway 2:03.16 2nd B Griffin Aer Lingus 2:04.09 3rd S O’Brien Aer Lingus 2:05.18
Women 400m Freestyle Final: 1st A Neamt Tallaght 4:09.31 IJR 2nd M Rosa MKS 4:16.84 3rd T Corry Portmarnock 4:19.19
Men 100m Freestyle Final: 1st C Coulter Ards 49.93 2nd C Bain Cookstown 50.10 3rd G Quinn Longford 50.61
Women 100m IM Final: 1st B Carson Lisburn 1:03.44 2nd B Firth Ards 1:03.85 3rd N Kilgallen Claremorris 1:04.33
Men 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final: 1st Ards 3:26.31 2nd Galway 3:27.83 3rd Bangor 3:28.15
Women 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final: 1st Ards 3:52.54 2nd Galway 3:57.60 3rd Sundays Well 3:59.65
