Nenagh Neptune Swimmers impress at National Championships

Nenagh Neptune Swimming Club had five representatives at the National Senior Swimming Championships in the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin last month in Kseniya Nita, Rachel Quigley, Mateusz Milaszewicz, Sarah Gleeson, and Kevin Reddy.

In an Olympic year, qualifying times for the national championships are significantly harder to achieve so it is testament to the swimmer’s hard work and commitment that they achieved those times in the first place.

At the national championships, they represented Nenagh Neptune very well, achieving PBs and certificates of improvement and progressing to some finals.

Kseniya Nita qualified for five events while studying for her Leaving Certificate this year.

Kseniya swam the 200m Butterfly, Freestyle & Individual Medley (IM) in addition to 50m & 400m Freestyle, and achieved five personal best (PB) times.

In her 400m Freestyle preliminary heat, Kseniya improved her time by 1.58 secs, finishing in 5:00.50. This earned her a place in the finals where her powerful kicks and strokes and fast turns added a further one second PB, bringing her finish time under five minutes to 4:59.55.

Kseniya also progressed to the 200m Butterfly final, finishing sixth in a fiercely competitive race.

Another excellent swim by Kseniya was her 200m IM in which she dropped 1.11 secs off her previous best time, hitting the wall at 2:43.54. Her 50m Freestyle saw her taking 0.55 secs off her previous time.

“It was an enjoyable time competing at the Irish Summer Nationals, racing against athletes from different countries like Singapore, Spain, Croatia and France,” he said.

“My favourite moment at this year’s championships was getting into the 400m Freestyle final and breaking the 5 minute time.

“Each race was an opportunity to display the hard work and dedication I have put into training throughout the years, demonstrating my commitment to the sport.”

Rachel Quigley qualified for five national events: 50m, 100m & 200m Breaststroke, 200m Freestyle & 200m IM.

Her preliminary heat in the 200m Breaststroke saw her touch the wall in under three minutes (2:59.75) with a PB of -0.42 secs, earning her a place in the final. Rachel’s powerful swim in the final included efficient turns and long underwater phases which led to a further one second PB, bringing her time down to 2:58.69 and a fifth place finish.

Her 100m Breaststroke swim also resulted in a PB of 1.44 secs. Her finish time was 1:20.37, narrowly missing out on a place in the final to the swimmer ahead of her who finished in 1:20.35.

Rachel started her 50m Breaststroke heat with a very fast dive and won her race in 36.17 secs, taking 0.45 secs off her previous best time.

She also completed strong swims in her 200m Freestyle & 200m IM.

“I truly appreciated swimming in the national championships in this Olympic year and having the support of club members, parents, and coaches,” she said.

“I learned a lot in each of my swims and this will keep me focused for the coming season.

“I take great pride from what I have achieved this year and am especially delighted with my fifth place finish in the 200m Breaststroke final. My hard work and perseverance were reflected in all of my swims over the week in the NAC.”

Sarah Gleeson was swimming in the 16-year-old category and qualified for three events; 200m Freestyle, 100m & 200m Backstroke.

Sarah produced powerful backstroke swims with very good head position and stroke rates, and moved up the national rankings by six places in the 200m Backstroke and by twelve places in 100m Backstroke. Her 200m Freestyle swim in 2:31.42 moved her up three places.

“It was a great experience to be at the national championships as qualification times were harder to reach this year,” she said.

“I felt proud that I was able to achieve the times needed. I swam well at the championships but was a little disappointed with my times. It motivates me more to work harder to achieve better times next year.’

Mateusz Milaszewicz achieved qualifying times in six events: 400m IM, 200m Freestyle & Backstroke, 100m Freestyle, Backstroke & Butterfly. He secured seven personal best times and secured one pathway time.

In his preliminary heat of the 100m Butterfly, Mateusz executed a perfectly timed turn and underwater phase, finishing in 1:03.65 with a brilliant PB of -3.14 and thus securing a place in the final where he achieved a further PB, finishing sixth in a time of 1:02.74.

Mateusz also progressed from the preliminary heats to the final of the 400m IM. His swim resulted in a remarkable 12.20 secs PB and a fiercely fought place in the final where he finished eighth, moving up the national rankings by five places.

Other strong swims by Mateusz were 200m Backstroke (-4.04 secs PB) and 100m Freestyle (-0.21 sec PB).

He said: “I had a great time at the NAC this week. Thanks to all the friends I have in different clubs and to the supporters from our own club who showed up to cheer us on. I’m very proud that I represented Nenagh Neptune well.’

Kevin Reddy qualified for two national swims in the 15-year-old category 200m Backstroke and 1500m Freestyle.

He had a very solid swim in the 200m Backstroke, moving up six places in the rankings and taking 3.5 seconds off his previous time.

His performance in the 1500m Freestyle was very well paced in which he completed twelve of his fifteen 100m splits in a steady 1:20 secs, earning him a new two second PB.

He also demonstrated great wall-work and continuous kicking throughout his preliminary heat.

“For me, the national championships provided a great learning opportunity,” he said.

“I felt very fortunate to be there. Although I achieved PBs in both of my races, I learned from my 1500m Freestyle that I need to go faster. My 200m Backstroke swim showed me that I can go faster.”

Thank you to club coaches Uta, Mikey and Mark who were there to support and guide our swimmers and thank you to the parents and club members who attended to cheer on our swimmers in their endeavours.

Junior Summer National Age Group Championships (50m): were held in Limerick at the UL Arena.

Over 100 clubs entered, including Aer Lingus, Sliabh Beagh, Tallaght, Lisburn, Dundalk, Glenalbyn and Portadown.

14-year-old Lauren Duggan competed and qualified for eight swims: 100m & 200m Breaststroke, 200m Backstroke, 100m & 200m Butterfly, 200m IM, 100m & 400m Freestyle.

She started with a fantastic PB of 1.29.88secs in her 100m Breaststroke just missing out on an ‘A’ final.

She followed with another amazing swim with over eleven seconds of a PB in her 200m Backstroke. She competed in the 200m & 100m Butterfly which are extremely tough events but again she excelled securing a top 10 position in 200m and qualifying for the 100m ‘B’ Final where she knocked 2.5 secs off her entry time.

The 100m & 400m Freestyle were both strong swims and again she dropped 1.96 seconds off her 100m and a massive 26 seconds off her 400m.

She reached the final in the 200m IM and moved up the rankings from 33rd to 17th place.

Lauren received a Swim Ireland (SI) most improved time certificates for 400m Freestyle, 200m IM, 200m Backstroke. It was a remarkable championship for Lauren.

This was Anna Gleeson’s first Irish National Championships, and she began with the 400m Freestyle.

Even though she was nervous, she achieved a 19 secs PB in a fantastic swim.

Her second swim the following day was the 100m Freestyle where she succeeded in securing a PB of -1.11secs, earning her a Swim Ireland (SI) most improved time certificate.

Well done Anna and like Lauran, we look forward to seeing you back at those championships next year.

Both girls really impressed club coaches Mikey O’Dwyer and Uta Fietsch with super dives, turns and great speed.

It was a super effort from both swimmers after a long season of training and competing.