Sean O’ Riordan at the 2019 Wolrd Para Championships
Best of luck to SWSC swimmer Sean O’Riordan and his fellow teammates representing Team Ireland in 2019 Wolrd Para Championships in London this week.
SWSC Committee
Return to Swimming 2019/2020
Learn to Swim Program:
Term 1 will run from Saturday, 7th of September, 2019– Saturday, 25th of January, 2020
Term 2 will run from Monday, 27th of January, 2020 – Monday, 15th of June, 2020
Junior Squad:
Wednesday 4th of September.
Intermediate Squad:
Tuesday 3rd of September
Senior Squad:
Monday 2nd of September
SWSC Committee
Coaching/Teaching Courses
There will be a number of coaching/teaching courses held at the Mayfield Sports Complex, Old Youghal road, Cork City.
1. Level 1. Asst Swim Teacher
Dates. Friday 20th September 6pm & 21/22/28/29 September 9am – 5pm.
2. Level 2 Teacher of Swimming
Dates; Friday’s 4/11th October & 1st November 6pm – 9pm.
Saturdays & Sunday 5/6/12/13 October & 2/3rd November. 9am – 5pm.
3. Level 1 Blended Learning Coaching
Dates: Friday 18th October 6pm &
Saturday/ Sunday 19/20th October 9- 5 pm ( 1 weekend only)
4. Level 1 Blended Learning Assistant Swim Teacher
Dates; Friday 8th November 6pm- 9pm &
Saturday/Sunday 9am – 5pm. ( 1 weekend only)
Munster Swimming
Courtmacsherry Lifeboat swim 2019
There were 3 category winners at the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat swim 2019 from SWSC. From the Marlin squad we had Neassa Wall winning the Female 3k Wetsuit category. From the masters squad Phillip King won the Male 3K skins category and retained the Courtmacsherry Lifeboat trophy. Own Dwyer from the masters squad also won the Male 1.5K wetsuit category.
Well done to all involved!
SWSC Committee
Jane Jolly takes second in the World Master Open Water 3K and Sean O’Riordan continues his preparation for the Para World Championships
Jane Jolly, who swam with Sundays Well in the late 1960s and early 1970s participating in, for example, a National Club record setting 400 MR, has just come second in the 65-69 Age Group 3K Open Water event in the World Masters Championships in South Korea. Jane has continued to compete through the years with Cork Masters, as have many “old” SWSC swimmers and now specializes in Open Water events, winning her Age Group in the Trans Bosphorus race in Istanbul in 2015.
Sean O’Riordan, SWSC member, UCC Sports Scholar and Para Olympic “possible”, competes in the 400m Freestyle on September 9 and the 100m backstroke on Sept 10 at the World Para Championships in London. After the recent Summer Nationals he trained for a week with the Irish team in Dublin and has been training in the Mardyke Arena for the last week, where a special lane was provided. He is being videoed for technique on Saturday 10 August then will be at an Irish camp in Italy until the end of the month, when he will train for a few days with Richard Cassidy’s Senior squad before travelling to London on September 5. Good Luck in London Sean!
Tom Cross
SWSC President
Swim Ireland Newsletter July 2019
SWSC Committee
Most successful Summer Nationals in recent years-many Personal Bests, Medals and Records.
Twenty-four SWSC swimmers competed in last weeks Irish Age Groups and Summer Nationals in the 50m pool in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin. Individual age groups were 12/13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 and older. The latter age group was particularly competitive with for example Danielle Hill and Mona McSharry setting Irish Senior records (Danielle’s 50m Back would have made a World Championships Semi Final!). Relays were 14 and under and 15 and over. All but two SWSC swimmers had achieved Division 1 times; the others Laoise Deasy and Peter Higgins were drafted to swim in relays (they were great). The meet was highly competitive with German and Danish Senior teams, and excellent swimmers from for example Hamilton Aquatics and Ealing. Our swimmers, other than those recovering from the Leaving Certificate (Luc Galland and Sharon Semchiy) were given a single aim “swim personal bests!” They responded magnificently!
Out of 100 swims over five days, 63 were PBs-including morning heat swims. This is the highest proportion of PBs at this competition in recent years. Photographs of medallists have already been displayed on this website, as has a recording of the club records broken. Munster records are currently being investigated.
Looking through the results (listed elsewhere on this site) four individuals stand out:
• Lauren Farr won several 12/13 medals (see photos below) competing in seven individual finals. Probably her most impressive performance was in the 200m Backstroke where she won by more than five meters and took 7.8 sec off her entry time recording 2:26.82.
• Ellen Lee won 14 year medals and swam a great 1:06.00 to take an emphatic win in the 100m Fly.
• Paul Higgins swam four finals in the 16 year age group winning two medals. The best of these was a 1st place in the 100 Fly in 58.76.
• Perhaps best of all were the Breast stroke performances by Andrew Feenan. Coming second in the very tough 17 and over age group he recorded a time of 2:20.91. He has progressed almost five seconds in this event since February!
Other great swims, looking at final places and/or major time improvements (using an alphabetical list and with apologies for anyone not mentioned) included:
• Laoise Deasy who swam in three relays, with Lauren and Rachel Farr and Ellen Lee, two of which won bronze medals, and reduced her 200m Freestyle by 12.15 sec in leading off the 14 and under 800 FR.
• Anna Feenan who made six finals in the 16 year age group and took 8.85 sec off her 400m Freestyle.
• Michael Feenan who made two 15 year finals and took 6.06 sec off his 200m Breast stroke.
• Marc Galland who swam three finals in the highly competitive 14 year age group and took 5.49 sec off his 400m Freestyle.
• Beth Nolan and Aoife O’Shea who each made two finals in the 17 and over and 16 year age groups respectively, with two of Beth’s swims being Club Records (see below).
• Luke O’Sullivan’s 1:58.9 in the 17 and older 200m Freestyle.
• James Ryan who made three 16 year age group finals and reduced his 200m Backstroke by 3.98 seconds.
• And Sharon Semchiy who made two 17 + finals and looked great for the first half of her races (looking forward to seeing you get your fitness back after the LC Sharon).
Coupled with excellent relay performances, and good swims from Sean and Cian O’Riordan, Rory Lee, Drew and Suzy Lynch, Penny Semple, Illan Wall and Rowan Walsh; this made for a great meet for SWSC!
Tom Cross
SWSC President
World Para Swimming Championships
Congratulations to SWSC swimmer Sean O’Riordan who has been selected to represent Ireland at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London in September.
Well done Sean and best of luck from everyone at SWSC!
SWSC Committee
Great Progress at National Age Group Division 2
Once again SWSC swimmers did themselves proud with some fantastic performances at UL for the National Age Group Division 2 Meet.
- Laoise Deasy made 5 finals and won gold in the 100m and 200m Back
- Michael O’Driscoll won gold in the 800m FC and Silver in 200 FC and made top 10 finishes in 100 Fly and 400 FC
- Jamie Murphy won Silver in 1500m FC and produced PB s in all his swims including an 18s PB to come 5th in the 800 FC
- Sinead Gallagher, Antonina Sech and Shauna Murphy all made finals / top 10 finishes in the highly competitive 11-12 Age Group
As a group they were hitting PB times in every swim with some serious improvements from a number of swimmers reaping the benefit from all their hard work in the last few weeks.
Their performances in the pool were only matched by their team spirit and support for each other throughout the four days of competition.
Division 2 remains a key competition for developing swimmers. Coaches and parents all left proud of our swimmers (and ready for a break before the hard work starts again in September!)
SWSC Committee
Changes to Squad Structure 2019/2020 Season
Dear Parents/Guardians & Swimmers,
The 2019/2020 season will bring some very positive changes to our club structure.
In consultation with Swim Ireland Ireland’s HP (High Performance) coaches and other senior coaches around the country, the SWSC committee has decided that the existing squad structure should be improved. These improvements will enable a structure which will cater for the diverse requirements of all of our swimmers moving forward.
Thus the Piranhas, Barracudas and Marlins will be replaced with Junior, Intermediate and Senior squads.
Junior Squad:
The new Junior Squad(old Piranhas) will remain a stepping stone from our Learn to Swim Program, being technique and skill focused with an introduction to conditioning.
Intermediate squad:
Within the Intermediate squad, three separate groups each with a different lead coach will train 12 hours a week (as per Barracuda roster last season) and encompass:
A Development Group (8-12 years),
A Junior Performance Pathway Group (11-12 years with Division 1 focus).
A Senior Group with Division 2 focus (13-18 years)
Senior Squad:
The Senior Squad which will train 14 hours or more a week (initially as per Marlin roster last season) and comprise Division 1 qualifiers of 13 years or older, Irish SC qualifiers and College Athletes. The new Senior Squad will have participation contracts, signed on a year-to-year basis with expectations set by the Director of Coaching & Teaching. Each swimmer and parent/guardian will be expected to sign the contract which will be reviewed quarterly.
We believe, having looked at our recent past, that this is a huge step forward, and also believe that within this structure every swimmer interested or committed to the sport of competitive swimming, whether at local, regional or national/international level has a place within the club.
As a club we believe that building a winning culture, where development of values, attitudes and beliefs about swimming, takes time and effort. We also believe that we now have the right people at coach and committee level to uphold these standards and set down an even stronger foundation that will hold the club in good stead for years to come -taking SWSC to the next level in competition in Ireland and abroad.
Yours in sport,
Richard Cassidy,
Director of Coaching & Teaching
(on behalf of the SWSC Committee)