Dundalk duo hoping to make big splash in championships
Some of the members of Aura Dundalk Swimming Club who recently attended the Swim Leinster Christmas Cracker at the NAC. Back row, from left: Sophie Matthews, Ryan Matthews, Roch Klimkowski, Oisin Finnegan, Adrijana Viliusyte and Cian McCoy. Front row: Eryk Klimkowski and Ciara Jensen.
DUNDALK Swimming Club duo Evelyn Donnelly and Eliza Logan compete in the Irish Short Course Championships in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin later this week.
Evelyn (15) makes her second appearance at the Championship on Saturday following her impressive debut last year, when she competes in the 50m Breaststroke.
There are no age divisions in the Irish Short Course Championships so Evelyn will be up against the best of Ireland’s swimming talent including Mona McSharry who
THE Commercial Club recorded a fine 3-1 victory over Global Tyres in the opening match of the night in the Dundalk Snooker League.
JJ Mcardle putting the tyre fitters one up on the night beating Aaron Lee however that was as good as it got for Global as the Commercial rattled off the last three remaining frames with wins for Joe Mcenany over David Doyle and Maddy Hoey over Keith Morris.
They topped it off with a fine doubles win for Dominic O’Connor and Anthony Fee over Tiernan Mallon and Gerry Rogers, completing a 3-1 win for The Commercial Club.
Charlie Chaplins were looking for their first win of the season when they took on The Camelot and they got off to a fine start when Mickey Kelly recorded a fine victory over Ken Mullholland.
However, it wasn’t long before The Camelot drew level when Mark Laverty produced some earlier this month scored a Bronze for Ireland in the 50m Breaststroke at the European Short Course Championships in a new Irish Senior Record time of 29.87 and Niamh Coyne our current Junior Olympic Silver Medalist.
Eliza (13) takes to the blocks on Friday when she looks to build on outstanding snooker in beating Mickey Ralph to level proceedings however chaplins again hit the front when Stephen McBride beat David J Mcardle in what was a fine display of match snooker from McBride.
In the doubles chaplins pairing of Aaron Callan and Gary McNally were easily beaten by The Camelot pairing of Paddy Hayes and Johnny Grant Meaning the match ended in a 2-2 Draw leaving Chaplins still in search of there first win.
Barone racing got off to the perfect start in the final match when John Dugdale beat Alan Thompson however wins for Mark Mcmullen over Patsy Muckian and David Moran over Patrick Mcardle saw Ginos take a 2-1 lead.
However in the final doubles match a win for Bar One racings John Dugdale and Jim Fergus over mark Mcmullen and Fra Roger’s meant the points where shared in another 2-all draw, making The Commercial club where the big winners on the night. her Leinster Silver success in the Under 15 50m Butterfly last month.
Again, as there are no age groups in these Championships Eliza, who is the youngest swimmer in this event at 13, will also be competing against the 19 year old McSharry.
Some of the Dundalk Club’s newest swimmers were also in action last Sunday (8th December) at the Swim Leinster Christmas Cracker event.
This is the perfect gala for those who have recently taken up competitive swimming and the Club had 7 promising swimmers in action. Eanna and Oisin Finnegan,
Sophie and Ryan Matthews, Cian McCoy, Adrijana Viliusyte and CIara Jensen represented Dundalk in 18 events at this exciting gala.
The event inspired some outstanding performances as, for many, this was their first outing at the National Aquatic Centre, the home of Irish swimming.