Surf lifesavers on the crest of a wave
THERE was a wave of celebrations in Eco in Gorey as the Wexford Surf Lifesavers were honoured.
The club now holds the National Junior Boys title for the first time ever having won numerous gold, silver and bronze medals at the National Pool Lifesaving Championships at the Arena, University of Limerick over the last weekend in February.
At the celebration night in Eco the junior boys and girls of Wexford Surf Lifesaving were praised for their outstanding performances at UL. The team of John Milne (Ferns), Ross Wallace (Castletown), Dillion Cousins ( Wexford town) and Harry McGuckian (Gorey) took gold in the obstacle relay, gold in the medley relay and silver in the 4x25m manikin carry relay.
John Milne and Harry McGuckian also romped home to take gold in the line throw in a time of 13.78 seconds. The lads put in tremendous performances, holding their nerve with some nail biting finishes to take home the overall trophy in the Junior category.
Overall the Wexford Junior boys put forward a strong contingent of competitors with a full squad of Adam Cleary, Ronan Cleary, John Kenny, Marcus Wallace, David Griffith, Robert Leonard, Robert Kalberzina, Fionn Nugent, and Neil Byrne who along with John, Ross, Dillion and Harry, proved their strength in the water on the day.
Coaches Thelma Blehein and Lorcan Cousins expressed their delight with the performances overall and had high praise for all the young people who have trained so hard over the past few years to bring this moment to fruition.
The Wexford Junior girls A team of Priya Daly O’Toole, Ava Ryan, Ella Colclough, Alice Rush, and Hannah Lacey now lie in fifth place overall in the National Pool placings. Again the coaches were delighted with performances as this is a young team who have already come up a place over the year.
Best on the day were Priya Daly O’Toole who silver medalled in the 50m Mankin carry and had a number of top 5 places. Ava Ryan finished in the top 10 in her events and the pairing of Bethany Donnelly and Georgia Ryan were unlucky in the line throw.
Some new competitors in the Wexford Senior men saw Aaron Joyce and Conor Brennan add to the experienced Bill Milne, but were unlucky to loose out to a stronger field.
Head Coach Thelma Blehein thanked all the competitors for their dedication and commitment to training throughout the year and praised their sporting attitude in competition. She also thanked all the parents for continued support, Courtown Pool and Leisure Centre, and made special mention of the team of coaches and managers who continuously give so freely of their own time to help with training, refereeing, organising and a plethora of other tasks.
She went on to give special mention to the Irish Sports Commission, the organisers of the National championships at Irish Water Safety. Success like this, she said, is a full team effort, competitors, parents, coaches, and helpers all working together to make it happen. She thanked and congratulated all on a job well done.