| Galway swimmers excel in National finals |
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| Written by Staff Reporter | |
| Wednesday, 12 December 2007 | |
![]() The Scoil Iognaid swim team who were successful at the Irish minor schools championships: Back row, left to right: Neasa Mulkerrins, Katie McKnight, Fiona Quirke, Tanj Donovan and Rory Knight. Middle row: Adi Donovan, Ruth Keogh, Aishling Burke, Keena Walsh, Emer Crosby and Joseph Tannion. Front row: Tim Keogh, Jasper Byrne, David Knight, Adam Fitzgerald, Mark Moran. Scoil Iogn´id returned from the 2007 Irish Minor Schools Swimming Championships on Saturday in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin with an incredible 11 medal haul for the city school. Saturday's gala started with the U/9 and U/10 boys and girls event with many swimmers getting their first experience of championship competition. Adi Donovan, Tim Keogh, Jasper Byrne, and Emer Crosby all qualified for their finals where they put up very creditable performances. Superb legs from Adam Fitzgerald, Jasper Byrne, David Knight and Adi Donovan claimed U/10 medley gold for Scoil Iogn´id and the great performances continued with David Knight claiming a bronze in the 50m Backstroke and taking 5th place in the Butterfly while Jasper Byrne was unlucky to only claim 7th in a high-quality 50m Breaststroke final. The Boys U/9 Freestyle relay team were also triumphant with Joseph Tannion joining Byrne, Knight and Donovan in a powerful swim. Claire Thornton set the tone for the afternoon session with a comprehensive victory in the 100m individual medley and Tanj Donovan was narrowly edged into second place in a classic 50m freestyle final. Ruth Keogh and Keena Walsh challenged for honours in the 50m breaststroke and a late charge by Keogh secured her a Bronze medal with Walsh just behind. With Claire Thornton absent, the U/12 girls' team of Ruth Keogh, Fiona Quirke, Keena Walsh, and Tanj Donovan did remarkably well to take silver. With the entire squad in good form, the swimmers continued to qualify for finals with Brandon Blacoe claiming 8th in the freestyle, Rory Knight getting 7th in the breaststroke, Ruth Keogh claiming another great bonze in the 100IM, Tanj Donovan winning the 50m butterfly, and Claire Thornton gaining another medal with a second place performance in the 50m freestyle. And the talented squad finished the gala with another great performance by the girls U/12 freestyle relay quartet, who claimed another silver after a spirited chase of the Cavan winners. Scoil Iogn´id Squad: U/9 ? Adi Donovan, Timothy Keogh, David Knight, Emer Crosby, Mark Moran, Joseph Tannion. U/10 ? Neasa Mulkerrins, Adam Fitzgerald, Jasper Byrne. U/11 ? Tanj Donovan, Ruth Keogh, Keena Walsh, Aishling Burke, Katie McKnight. U/12 ? Claire Thornton, Rory Knight, Fiona Quirke, Brandon Blacoe. |
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