Nenagh Neptune Swimmers impress at National Championships

The 2023 National Swimming Championships to place at the National Aquatic Centre, Dublin from 26th to 30th July last with seven swimmers from Nenagh Neptune Swimming Club aged 15 years and over participating in 29 events for which they had achieved qualification times over the swim season.

1,125 swimmers represented 120 national and international clubs with some travelling from as far as Australia and Dubai. This was an inaugural event for Swim Ireland with many swimmers participating to achieve Olympic times.

Swim Ireland also issued improvement certificates for swimmers with the highest improvement from qualifying time to the time achieved in the preliminary heats.

The swim season for Nenagh Neptune’s seven swimmers commenced in early September. With perseverance, commitment, and passion for their sport in addition to the guidance and support at the championships from their coaches Uta Fietsch and Mikey O’Dwyer, they concluded their season in spectacular style last month and proved themselves to be excellent ambassadors for our club.

Mark Ryan

Mark (age 22) is a perfect example of how swimming can continue beyond teenage years and secondary school. Mark swims both with UL and Nenagh Neptune where his experience is respected by younger swimmers. Mark qualified for Freestyle 50m & 100m, 50m Backstroke and Butterfly. Each of his swims was superb: his performance in 50m freestyle earned him a first place improvement certificate for his 1.86 second PB. In the 50m Butterfly, his time was 28.40 secs, representing a 0.57 sec PB. His 50m Backstroke in a time of 30.59 and 100m Freestyle in 57.63 saw further PBs for this powerful and highly committed swimmer.

Bartosz Urbanik

Bartosz (16) qualified for three events: Freestyle 50m & 100m and Breaststroke 100m. His highest PB was 1.19 seconds in 100m Freestyle on the third day of the competition which had been preceded on the previous day by an additional and excellent PB in 50m Free (-0.97 secs). His time for 100m Breaststroke was impressive in 1:26.02, culminating in a very successful participation in this national championship which will undoubtedly be repeated in future championships.

Thomas Ryan

Thomas (15) balanced intensive training in both swimming and rugby this year. He qualified for 50m Freestyle and swam a very good time of 31.92 seconds in the prelims, moving him up the placings in this highly contested event on the second day of the national championships.

Ronan Fitzpatrick

Ronan (16) competed in 200m & 100m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle. His swims were particularly powerful for the first 100m, ultimately completing his 200m Backstroke in 2:44.66, placing him well up the overall field. In his 50m Freestyle, he swam the preliminary heat in 29.46 and completed his 100m backstroke in 1:14.53.

Ronan displayed tremendous resilience in each of his swims, preparing him for the new swimming season and meeting qualifying requirements for next year’s championships.

Sarah Gleeson

Sarah (15), a powerful back-stroker, qualified for three swims: 200m & 100m Backstroke and 200m Freestyle. Her first swim was 200m Backstroke in which she achieved an amazing 8.73 second PB, sending her into the finals and earning her a second place improvement certificate.

Her next event, the 200m Freestyle, was shortly after her 200m Backstroke, she swam her preliminary heat in a very good time of 2:36.88. Her 100m backstroke was equally impressive, achieving a 1.91 second PB, also sending her into the finals. She held her place in the final and was ranked within the top 20 for this event, thus concluding her championship in sparkling form and confirming her impressive strength in backstroke events.

Rachel Quigley

Rachel (16) qualified for five swims in the national championships: Freestyle 50m, 100m & 200m and Breaststroke 100m & 200m. She achieved new PBs in each of her swims, earning highest improvement certificates from Swim Ireland (1st in 50m Freestyle for her 1.35 sec PB and 3rd in 200m Breaststroke for her particularly impressive 6.44 sec PB in what was an amazing swim). Swimming four days in a row did not deter her from winning her three Freestyle preliminary heats in intensely competitive races (50m in 30.17 secs; 100m in 1:05.88 and 200m in 2:24.69). Her 100m breaststroke time of 1:26.43 with a PB of 0.74 secs was very significant given that she had just won her 200m Freestyle prelim a short time before that. Rachel demonstrated extraordinary determination and consistency throughout the championships, fuelled no doubt by having to withdraw from this national event last year due to injury.

Kseniya Nita

Kseniya (17) qualified for ten swims: Backstroke 50m, 100m & 200m; Freestyle 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, Butterfly 100m & 200m and 400m IM.

Kseniya’s stamina and consistency impressed from day 1 through to day 5. In spectacular style, she improved seven of her already excellent qualifying times with PBs as follows: 200m Backstroke 1.96 secs; 200m Freestyle 0.94 secs; 50m Freestyle 0.54 secs; 50m Backstroke 0.89 secs; 200m Butterfly 1.71 secs; 100m Backstroke 1.14 secs and 400 IM 0.94 secs.

Kseniya qualified for the 200m Butterfly final, achieving a certificate for second highest improvement. She also received a third place certificate of improvement in her 50m Backstroke event, swimming it in 33.54 secs. Kseniya finished her championships in a superb flourish with her 400m IM in a time of 5:03.76 - very fitting given that it featured all four swimming strokes - and earned her seventh PB of the championship.