15th November saw yet another Graded gala take place - this time it was the turn of the Grade B swimmers to shine, and shine they did! 18 of the Dolphin squad headed to Fermoy Pool for the start of their season along with Coach Paddy Power, with some exceptional performances from veterans and novices alike. Overall it was a very successful outing for the squad which saw them take home 5 Individual Gold, 4 Silver and 4 Bronze medals as well as numerous Relay Medals.

In the Under 11 Boys age group, Robert Twomey made his Grade B debut in style with a winning performance in his 100M Backstroke taking the top spot and Gold medal in a time of 1:28.12 which was under the Grade A qualifying time for this event. He recorded a 3:11.20 in his 200M Freestyle, despite a mishap with googles at the start. Also in the Under 11 Boys age group were swimmers John O'Shaughnessy, Angus Gill, Ethan Keane, and Billy Mulcahy. John powered home in his 200M Freestyle taking almost 4 seconds off his previous time for a new personal best time of 3:09.59. He also knocked almost 3 and a half seconds off his previous time in his 100M Breaststroke, for a Bronze medal winning and personal best time of 1:53.41.

Angus had a super swim in his 200M Freestyle, taking over 5 and a half seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 3:08.98. Ethan was on flying form, shaving a staggering 15 and a half seconds off his previous 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 3:00.72. He went on to take a further almost 7 seconds off his old time in the 100M Backstroke for a new personal best time of 1:35.88, and over 6 and a half seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:34.97. Swimming very close to his best in the 100M Freestyle he went on to win the Bronze medal in a time of 1:24.35.

Billy had an outstanding performance in his 200M Freestyle winning the Gold Medal in the age group, his time of 2:52.30 was over 8 and a half seconds faster than his previous best. He then went on to take over 6 seconds off his 100M Backstroke time for a new personal best of 1:37.46. In the 100M Breaststroke he was just outside a podium place, taking 4th overall in a time of 1:54.02.

In the Under 11 Girls age group Niamh Moloney made her Grade B debut with a fine 100M Breaststroke performance which saw her come close to Grade A qualifying in a time of 1:44.82 and snap up the Silver Medal for her efforts. She also took over 8 seconds off her previous time in the 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:35.88 and had a strong 200M Freestyle swim of 3:12.80 and 100M Backstroke swim of 1:45.03. Team mates Ally Cunningham, Laura Clifford, Yvonne Kelleher, Cliona O'Brien, Emma Richardson, Tara Desmond, Niamh Kelly, and Rebecca Farrelly all competed alongside Niamh in the Under 11 Girls age group.

Ally pushed hard and took over 7 seconds off her 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 3:13.41 and went on to take over 8 seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:42.94. She then took over 3 and a half seconds off her 100M Backstroke time, recording a new PB of 1:40.60 and took over 5 and a half seconds off her 100M Breaststroke for a new personal best of 2:00.62. Laura took a second off her old 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 3:14.10, and went on to take off almost 6 seconds off her old 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:44.62.

Yvonne took almost 2 and a half seconds off her 200M Freestyle for a new personal best time of 3:34.03. She took over half a second off her 100M IM time for a personal best of 1:42.97 and then went on to win a Bronze medal in the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:53.66 , her first time swimming at this distance. Cliona was just outside a podium finish in the 100M Backstroke, taking over 7 seconds off her previous time for a new personal best of 1:37.69 and 4th place overall. She took over 10 and a half seconds off her 200M Freestyle time for a personal best of 3:09.07, and took almost 5 and a half seconds off her 100M Breaststroke for a personal best of 1:48.15.

Emma took over 10 and a half seconds off her 200M Freestyle for a new personal best time of 3:03.12, and then went on to take over 5 and a half seconds off her 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:38.35. She added to that with more personal best swims, taking almost a second and a half off her 100M Breaststroke for a 1:58.21 time, and also took almost half a second off her 100M Freestyle for a PB and Bronze medal winning time of 1:27.34.

Tara stormed home in the 200M Freestyle taking Silver in a 12 second PB of 2:54.91, making the Grade A qualifying time in the process! She went on to take over 2 and a half seconds off her 100M Butterfly time for a new personal best time of 1:54.85 which saw her place 4th overall in the event. She also took over a second off her 100M Breaststroke for a new personal best time of 1:55.66.

Niamh took over 10 seconds off her 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 3:07.72 and went on to take over 6 seconds off her old 100M Butterfly for a Silver Medal winning and personal best time of 1:46.72. She also took over 2 seconds off her 100M Breaststroke time for a new personal best of 1:49.63.

Rebecca proved hard to beat in her events, taking Gold in the 100M IM in a personal best time of 1:30.87, qualifying her for Grade A in this event. She also took Gold in the 100M Freestyle in a personal best time of 1:23.57, a second and a half faster than her old time. She went on to top this off with Silver in the 100M Backstroke taking over 5 and a half seconds off her old time for a new PB of 1:36.79. Placing 5th overall in the 200M Freestyle she took an impressive 14 seconds off her old time for a new personal best of 2:59.71.

Making his debut in the Under 13 Boys age group was Adam Fahy who swam well in his events, placing 10th overall in the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:47.13. Also in the Under 13 age group were Jack O'Brien and Anthony Creed. Jack took almost half a second off his 200M Freestyle for a new personal best time of 3:07.85 and again took over half a second off his 100M Breaststroke for a personal best of 1:53.72. He also swam strongly in his 100M Backstroke, with a time of 1:41.28 which earned him 8th place overall.

Anthony took a massive 13 seconds off his 200M Freestyle for a new personal best of 3:00.17 and then went on to take almost 6 seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:35.70. Swimming well in the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:37.53 he came 6th overall in the event. He also took over 2 and a half seconds off his 100M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 1:21.65 which saw him place 4th overall.

In the Girls Under 13 age group was Jennifer Cosgrave who had a very strong swim in her 100M Butterfly, taking the Gold medal in a time of 1:48.12. She went on to take over 5 and a half seconds off her 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best and Grade A qualifying time of 2:55.88. She also took over half a second off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:32.12 which saw her take 4th place overall in the event.

Many thanks to all parents, officials and to Coach Paddy for helping out at the meet, as always it is appreciated. Special Congratulations go to Swimmers Tara Desmond, Rebecca Farrelly and Jennifer Cosgrave who all qualified for Grade A after the meet at the weekend. We wish them continued success and look forward to seeing them continue to do well. Well done to all swimmers who took part at the meet, keep up the hard work and we anticipate a very successful 2009 ahead for you all! Go Dolphin!

Several Dolphin swimmers made the trip up to St. Enda's on the 2nd November 2008 to take part in the first Grade A of the Season. Despite coming hot on the heels of the Dolphin Open and in the middle of their training cycle, there were Personal Best times recorded as well as a plethora of Medals taken home from the one day event.

Amy Cunningham recorded a personal best in her 50M Freestyle with a 34.50 time, over 3 seconds faster than her old best. She also had a personal best in her 200M Freestyle, her time of 2:50.03 was over 2 and a half seconds faster and earned her a Bronze medal. She also went on to swim a further Bronze medal in her 100M Freestyle, a Silver medal in her 100M Backstroke, and took the Gold medal in the 100M Breaststroke. Thomas Treacy impressed in the 50M Freestyle in his age group, taking almost half a second off for a new personal best of 31:33. He easily took the Gold in the 100M Backstroke, 100M Breaststroke and 100M Freestyle events and took home a Silver medal in the 200M Freestyle!

Sarah Allen lead the field in several of her events, taking home Gold in the 100M Butterfly, 100M Freestyle, and 100M Backstroke as well as Silver Medals for her effort in the 50M Freestyle. Still showing form from the Dolphin Open, Tim Daly knocked over a second off his 200M Freestyle for a new personal best time of 2:13.88 earning him a Bronze Medal in the process. He also took time off his 50M Freestyle, recording a new personal best of 28.21. Tim also went on to take the Silver Medal in the 100M Breaststroke event in his age group.

Tim O'Callaghan was amongst the medal winners, with a Silver medal in the 100M Freestyle and also in the 100M Backstroke where he also recorded a personal best time of 1:10.44. He placed 5th overall in the age group in the 100M IM, taking over 2 seconds off his previous time. Stephen O'Shaughnessy performed well at the meet, taking an impressive 13 seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:14.98. He went on to take over 2 and a half seconds off his 100M Backstroke for a new personal best and Bronze medal winning time of 1:13.21 and took over a second and a half off his 200M Freestyle time for a personal best of 2:14.59.

Ross McNulty also competed for the club, recording a personal best in his 50M Freestyle with a time of 26.70 and in the 100M IM with a time of 1:09.06, which saw him earn a podium place and the Silver Medal for his efforts. He then went on to win Silver in the 100M Freestyle and topped that off with a winning performance in the 100M Backstroke, easily snatching the Gold Medal.

Well done to the Swimmers who travelled and we look forward to seeing them and their team mates compete in the upcoming Grade A in Tralee in a few weeks time. Go Dolphin!

Another Successful Swim Season for the Grade C Swimmers kicked off with the recent graded gala held in Waterford on the 1st of November 2008. A 27 Strong Team travelled with Coaches Paddy Power and Rose Twomey to compete against Waterford Crystal, Clonmel, SplashWord Sharks, Carrig, and Tiger Sharks with 4 Dolphin swimmers making their Grade C competitive debut. It was a veritable success for Dolphin despite facing some stiff competition in the Under 11 age group, with a total of 2 individual Gold, 4 Silver and 5 Bronze Medals as well as Bronze for the Boys U11 4 x 50M Relay, Silver for the U11 4 x 50M Girls Medley Relay and Bronze for the Cannon Relay taken home from the event.

Making their Grade C debut in the Under 11 Boys age group were Swimmers Sam Cunningham, Patrick Treacy and Conor King. Sam had a flying start with the 100M Freestyle, clocking a 1:59.29 and went on to take over 3 and a half seconds off his old time in the 50M Backstroke for a new personal best time of 1:07.69. He then went on to take over a second and a half off his 50M Butterfly time for a new personal best of 1:08.03, which saw him take home the Bronze medal for his efforts. He also had a strong 100M IM swim, with a time of 2:22.13.

Patrick took to the water in the first event with a terrifc performance and a time of 1:41.50. He then went on to record a 54.66 in his 50M Backstroke and a 1:06.93 in his 50M Breaststroke. He also had an excellent swim in his 100M IM with a time of 2:05.67. Conor powered home in his 100M Freestyle dispite a mishap with his googles, with a time of 1:33.91. Close to best in his 50M Backstroke he touched home in a time of 53.22 and went on to take over 10 seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:47.29. His 50M Freestyle time of 41.62 was a new personal best by over 2 seconds.

Swimming in the Boys Under 11 age group alongside Sam, Patrick and Conor were fellow Dolphin Swimmers Alexander Black, Mark Auf Der Heyde, Ronan Fahy, Ross Mc Auliffe, and Neil O'Brien. Alex had a superb meet, knocking a massive 8 seconds off his 100M Freestyle for a new personal best time of 1:44.94, and went on to take a further 8 and a half seconds off his 100M IM with a new personal best time of 1:56.66. He also had a great swim in his 50M Breaststroke where he recorded a new personal best time of 1:01.82, over 2 seconds faster than his old time. Mark stormed home in the 100M Freestyle taking almost 3 and a half seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 1:34.28 and went on to take a further 3 and a half seconds off his 100M IM for a new personal best time of 1:50.00.

Ronan had personal best swims all round, taking over 2 seconds off his 100M Freestyle for a time of 1:37.55, 2 seconds off his 50M Backstroke for a new personal best of 48.56, almost a second and a half off his 100M IM for a personal best of 1:50.42 and almost a second off his 50M Breaststroke with a time of 1:01.38. Ross took almost 3 seconds off his 100M Freestyle for a new Personal best of 1:47.53 while Neil O'Brien showed he was on top form by recording a personal best and Grade B qualifying time of 1:29.54 in the 100M Freestyle! He took over a second and a half off his 50M Backstroke to place 4th overall in a personal best time of 48.33, and went on to take an impressive 6 and a half seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:44.12.

In the Girls Under 11 age group Amy Collins made her competitive debut with a very strong swim in the 100M Freestyle, recording a time of 1:43.34. She went on to record 56.44 for her 50M Backstroke and 44.90 for her 50M Freestyle. She also had a good 100M IM swim with a time of 2:13.31. Also in the Under 11 age group were swimmers Jessica Farrelly, Lauren Graham, Amy Hennessy, Fiona Richardson, Mary Richardson, Abbie McNulty, Ruth O'Neil, Ruth Moynihan, Ciara Scanlon, Victoria Grade, Rebecca Murphy, Jessica Murphy, Sinead Mills, Niamh Moloney, and Aoife O'Connell.

Jessica was only marginally outside her best times for her events, recording 7th overall in the 50M Butterfly in a 1:11.37 time. Lauren knocked almost 5 seconds off her 100M Freestyle for a new personal best time of 1:50.22, and went on to take over 10 and a half seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 2:02.63. She powered home in her 50M Butterfly taking over 6 seconds off her previous best and capturing the Bronze medal in a time of 59.21. She also recorded a personal best in her 100M Backstroke, taking over a second and a half off for a new time of 59.50.

Amy Hennessey had the PB of the meet, taking a whopping 26 and a half seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 2:08.71. She also took over 7 seconds off her 100M Freestyle for a new personal best of 1:55.32 and took over 2 seconds off her 50M Backstroke for a personal best of 59.91. Fiona Richardson took over 3 seconds off her 50m Butterfly to place 6th overall in a personal best time of 1:06.34 and almost half a second off her 100M Freestyle for a new personal best time of 1:51.19 while her sister Mary took over 5 seconds off her 100M Freestyle for a new personal best of 1:57.38. Mary also took over 6 seconds off her 50M Backstroke for a personal best of 56.02 and a further 6 seconds off her 100M IM for a personal best time of 2:18.85. She also recorded a PB in her 50M Breaststroke with a time of 1:08.46.

Abbie took over 2 seconds off her 50M Backstroke for a new personal best of 51.78 placing 6th overall in the event, and went on to take over 7 and a half seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 2:12.00. She also took over 4 seconds off her 50M Breaststroke time for a personal best of 1:02.87. Ruth O'Neil recorded a personal best in her 100M Freestyle with a time of 1:49.60 and again in her 50M Backstroke in a tome of 1:05.41 and took over half a second off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 2:14.50. Ruth Moynihan had a very good 100M IM swim, taking over 7 and a half seconds off her previous best for a new time of 1:53.34 and also recorded a personal best in her 100M Freestyle in a time of 1:43.07.

Ciara recorded a personal best in her 50M Backstroke, her time of 52.13 saw her place 7th overall. Victoria had a mishap with googles but didn't let that hold her back, recording a personal best in the 100M Freestyle of 1:35.50, taking over 5 and a half seconds off her previous time and taking over ten seconds off her 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:44.82. She also swam well in her 50M events, taking over a second and a half off her 50M Backstroke for a new time of 52.91 and over half a second off her 50M Breaststroke time for a new personal best of 53.15 and a Silver Medal in her age group!

Sisters Rebecca and Jessica Murphy gave some superb performances in their individual events, with Rebecca taking a whopping 19 seconds off her 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:46.13 which saw her place 6th overall! Rebecca also had an impressive 100M Freestyle swim, taking over 4 seconds off her 100M Freestyle for a personal best of 1:40.75 and in the 50M Backstroke where she took over 3 seconds off her old time for a new PB of 54.66. Jessica was on form in her 100M Freestyle, taking over 4 seconds off to record a personal best of 1:34.15, and took over 8 and a half seconds off her 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:48.44. She was just outside a podium finish in her 50M Backstroke event, her personal best time of 50.78 guaranteed her 4th place overall in the age group.

Sinead pushed hard in her 100M Freestyle and qualified for Grade B in this event with an excellent 1:32.56 time, a full 3 and a half seconds faster than her previous best. She then went on to take over 3 seconds off her 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:49.22 and topped it off with a medal winning performance in her 50M Backstroke, her time of 49.94 a personal best by 2 seconds which earned her the Silver Medal in the age group.

Niamh Moloney Powered home in the 100M Freestyle, narrowly missing out on a podium spot with an impressive 2 and a half second PB of 1:32.62 which earned her a Grade B qualifying time in this event. She then went on to record a further PB in the 100M IM, taking over 8 seconds off for a Grade B qualifying time of 1:44.18 and earning a Bronze medal for her efforts in the process. She took over 2 and a half seconds off her 50M Backstroke time for a new personal best of 53.55 but her swim of the day came from the 50M Breaststroke, where she easily took the top spot and Gold Medal in a personal best time of 48.89, over a second faster than her old time.

Aoife had a very fast swim in her 100M Freestyle, taking over 9 and a half seconds off her previous time for a personal best of 1:30.95 and snapped up the Silver Medal in the event in her age group along with a Grade B Qualifying time! She then went on to take over 2 seconds off her 50M Freestyle for a new personal best of 41.51, again taking the Silver medal in winning style. She also recorded a personal best in the 100M IM of 1:51.31 and in the 50M Backstroke where she placed 5th overall in a PB of 50.90.

In the Boys Under 12, Rory O'Sullivan and Adam Fahy proudly represented Dolphin with some fine swimming. Rory took over 5 and a half seconds off his 100M Freestyle for a new personal best of 1:31.85, placing 5th overall in the age group. He then went on to take over 3 and a half seconds off his personal best in the 100M IM with a time of 1:49.34. He also recorded a PB in the 50M Backstroke taking over half a second off his old time for a new PB of 55.20 and a 5th overall placing in the age group. Adam impressed in his 100M Freestyle, taking over 5 and a half seconds off his old time for a Grade B qualifying and personal best time of 1:29.25 which earned him a Silver Medal. He then went on to take the Gold medal in the 50M Backstroke in a time of 49.41 and placed highly in his 100M and 50M Breaststroke events.

Our sole Under 12 Girls Competitor was Megan McAuliffe who had gave a powerful 100M Freestyle performance, earning her a personal best and Grade B Qualifying time of 1:31.69. She also placed highly in her other events on the day, earning 4th place overall in the age group for her 50M Breaststroke and 5th overall place for her 50M Backstroke.

Well done to all swimmers who took part on the day, keep up the hard work and we look forward to seeing you all improve and progress as the Season continues. Many thanks to all parents who travelled to the meet, especially those who helped out with the Team Manager and Time Keeping roles and to Paddy Power for taking on the role of Gala Referee for the day!

Special congratulations go to Adam Fahy and Niamh Moloney for qualifying for their Grade B at the event, we look forward to seeing them in competition in Fermoy on the 15th at the first Grade B of the Season. Go Dolphin!

Mayfield Sports Complex was a hive of activity last weekend as another highly successful Dolphin Open gala was held at the pool, with Coolmine, Waterford Crystal, and Limerick Swimming Club amongst others all travelling to the event with Cork based Clubs Mallow Swans and Sundays Well also taking part alongside the home Squad. With sensational swimming by the 55 Strong Dolphin team, it certainly made for an exciting beginning to the 2008/2009 Season with Dolphin racking up an extraordinary medal haul of 14 Gold, 20 Silver and 9 Bronze Individual medals as well as 4 Gold, 2 Silver and 10 Bronze for Relays!

In what proved to be a competitive age group this year, the 11-12 Boys age category was well represented by swimmers Robert Twomey, John O'Shaughnessy, Darren Twomey, Jack O'Brien, Billy Mulcahy, Angus Gill, Colin O'Neill, Ross Kavanagh, Jerry Clifford, Lukas Maly, Thomas Treacy and Patrick Daly. Robert and John both took part in the 100M IM with John also swimming in the 100M Freestyle, his time of 1:26.15 very near his personal best. Darren had a flying start to the weekend, taking half a second of his previous best in the 100M IM to record a new PB of 1:33.72 and went on to take a further 3 seconds off his PB in the 100M Backstroke, recording a fast time of 1:33.07. Jack swam near his best in the 100M IM in a time of 1:38.31 with Billy Mulcahy taking over 3 and a half seconds off his old time for a new Personal Best of 1:36.97 in the 100M IM. Billy also had a great swim in his 100M Freestyle, coming close to his best in a time of 1:22.85.

Angus recorded a new personal best in his 100M IM, taking over a second and a half off his old time for a new personal best of 1:38.72 and added to that with an excellent 100M Breaststroke swim which earned him a personal best of 1:41.88, over a second and a half faster than his previous time. Colin also took time of his best in the 100M IM, recording a new PB of 1:26.61. He also gave a strong performance in his 100M Backstroke taking over a second off for a new personal best of 1:31.17 and took almost 2 seconds off his time in the 100M Freestyle for a PB of 1:15.11. Ross had some outstanding performances, namely in the 100M Backstroke where he placed 5th in the Final in a time of 1:26.77, almost 4 seconds faster than his previous best. He also put in a strong swim in his 100M Butterfly heat, taking over 3 and a half seconds off for a new personal best of 1:29.69 which saw him place 6th overall. He took almost 2 seconds off his 100M Freestyle for a new PB of 1:16.77 and was close to his best in the 100M IM with a time of 1:28.87.

Jerry took an outstanding 6 seconds off his 100M Freestyle for a new personal best of 1:16.91 and added to that with a powerful 100M Backstroke swim which saw him knock over 4 seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 1:30.26. He also took over 5 seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:27.31 and almost a second off his 100M Butterfly time for a new personal best of 1:36.55. Lukas made his Dolphin debut with style, taking Silver in the 100M Breaststroke Final with a time of 1:27.44, Bronze in the 100M IM in a time of 1:22.91 and 4th in the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:26.43. He was just outside of the finals in the 100M Freestyle with a fast time of 1:13.02, taking 6th place overall.

Thomas was on flying form in his events, knocking a whopping 8 seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:18.83, taking the Silver medal in the process. He then went on to take Silver again in the 100M Backstroke with a time of 1:22.81, and was just outside the medals in the 100M Freestyle but his heat time of 1:10.86 saw him take home another personal best. He also placed 5th in the final of the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:27.76, his heat of the same event saw him record another PB. Patrick was a force to be reckoned with in his events, taking Gold in the 100M Breaststroke in a personal best time of 1:26.18 and gold again in the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:18.16, a personal best of almost 4 seconds. He added to this with a Silver in the fast paced 100M Freestyle final, his heat time of 1:08.22 was over half a second faster than his previous best. The Boys Under 12 Dolphin A Relay snapped up the Gold Medal in the Final of the 4 x 50M Medley Relay with the Dolphin B team fast on their heels with a 3rd Place finish. The Dolphin A team also took Gold in the 4 x 50M Freestyle relay with the Dolphin B team taking the Bronze.

In the 11- 12 Girls age group were swimmers Emma Richardson, Cliona O'Brien, Laura Clifford, Niamh Kelly, Rebecca Farrelly, Tara Desmond, Jennifer Cosgrave, Amy Cunningham and Emma Hobbs. Emma had a tremendous 100M Backstroke swim which saw her take over a second off her old time for a new personal best of 1:34.68. Cliona O'Brien took part in the 100M IM while Laura Clifford took part in the 100M Freestyle, her time of 1:25.03 was almost 2 seconds faster than her previous best. Niamh Kelly powered home in the 100M IM, her time of 1:33.73 was a personal best by over 3 seconds.

Rebecca Farrelly had a superb swim in her 100M IM, her time of 1:31.55 was over 3 and a half seconds faster than her previous best. She went on to improve still further with an excellent 100M Breaststroke heat, her time of 1:35.34 was a 12 second personal best and saw her qualify for the final of the event where she placed 5th overall. Tara took over 5 and a half seconds off her 100M Backstroke time, for a new personal best of 1:33.56 and went on to take over a second off her 100M IM time with a new personal best of 1:37.38. Jennifer took over a second off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:32.84, her 100M Breaststroke time of 1:39.18 was almost a 4 and a half second personal best and her time of 1:20.03 in the 100M Freestyle was a personal best by over 2 seconds.

Amy had a very good meet, her time of 1:24.36 in the 100M Backstroke was a personal best by almost a second and a half and gave her a place in the final where she snapped up the Bronze medal in another personal best time of 1:23.78. She added to that with strong performances in the 100M Breaststroke, her time of 1:42.35 a 2 second PB and in the 100M IM with a time of 1:27.92, taking almost 3 seconds off her old time. She took almost 2 seconds off her 100M Butterfly time for a new personal best of 1:36.29. Emma proved to be unbeatable in the 100M Breaststroke easily taking the top spot and Gold medal, her time of 1:25.03 in the final was over half a second faster than her previous best. She pushed hard in the 100M IM Final, taking the Silver medal in a new personal best time of 1:21.10, over 8 seconds faster than her previous best. She added to that with a Bronze in the final of the 100M Freestyle, her time of 1:11.57 saw her take over 3 seconds off her previous best. Emma placed 8th overall in the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:26.55, over 3 seconds faster than her old time and she placed 6th overall in the Womens Open 200M Breaststroke event, with a time of 3:07.34. The Uner 12 Gilrs Dolphin A relay picked up a Bronze medal in the 4 x 50M Freestyle and again in the 4 x 50M Medley relay.

In the highly competitive 13-14 Boys age group swimmers Tadgh Arrigan, Shaun Hennessy, Alex McNulty, Raymond Watkins, Mateusz Rudak, Darren O'Dowling, Daniel Hobbs, Cian Mulcahy, Tim Daly all made their presence felt. Tadgh knocked a whopping 11 seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:15.08 which saw him place 8th overall. He took over 3 and a half seconds off his 100M Breaststroke for a new personal best time of 1:27.29, and almost 2 and a half seconds off his 100M Freestyle for a new personal best of 1:04.83. He also took over half a second off his 200M Freestyle time for a 2:28.05 PB, and over a second off his 100M Butterfly for a new personal best of 1:19.66 placing him 7th overall.

Shaun shaved an astonishing 18 seconds off his 200M Breaststroke for a new personal best of 3:11.44, and knocked a further 9 and a half seconds off his 200M Backstroke time for a new personal best of 2:50.53. He took over 2 seconds off his 100M Freestyle for a time of 1:08.78 and also had a PB of over a second in his 100M Breaststroke with a time of 1:31.36. Alex took over 3 and a half seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:23.99, while Raymond took over 10 and a half seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:22.36. He also took over 11 seconds off his old time for the 100M Butterfly, giving him a new personal best of 1:28.34. Further PBs came in the form of the 100M Freestyle where Raymond took over 3 and a half seconds off for a 1:10.03 time, and in the 200M Freestyle where his time of 2:32.91 was a 6 and a half second personal best!

Mateusz powered home in his 100M IM, taking over 13 seconds off for a new personal best of 1:15.50, he took almost 2 seconds off in the 100M Freestyle for a new personal best time of 1:06.44, and over a second and a half off his 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 2:30.25. He also made improvements on his 100M Backstroke, his time of 1:21.65 a personal best of over a second. Darren shave almost 6 and a half seconds of his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:11.74 giving him 5th place overall. His notable 200M Freestyle saw him drop just over a half a second off his old time for a new personal best of 2:14.21, placing him just outside medal contention with a 4th place overall. He powered home in the heat of the 100M Freestyle, his time of 1:02.19 was a personal best of over one second and gave him a place in the Final lineup where he touched home in 4th place. He also made the final of the 100M Backstroke placing 5th, and he took almost 3 seconds off his 100M Butterfly time in the heats for a new personal best of 1:12.69.

Daniel swam well in his 200M Breaststroke, taking over 3 and a half seconds off his previous best for a new PB of 2:53.81. He took over 2 and a half seconds off his 200M IM time for a new personal best of 2:35.02 which saw him place 6th overall. He gave a strong performance in his 200M Freestyle to take the Silver medal in a time of 2:11.99, and took Bronze in the fast paced 100M Freestyle final in a personal best of 1:01.48. Cian pushed hard in the 100M Backstroke Final to take the Silver medal in a 2 second PB of 1:07.13. He went on to snatch up the Silver medal in the 100M Butterfly in impressive style with a personal best time of 1:06.77. He added to that with an excellent Silver medal in the 100M Freestyle in a personal best time of 1:01.12, and placed 4th in the 200M IM in a personal best time of 2:32.11. His heat time of 1:10.29 in the 100M IM saw him take over 8 seconds off his previous best, and gave him a place in the Final where he placed 4th overall.

Tim Daly had a sensational meet, proving hard to beat across the board in this age group. He dominated the 100M Backstroke, taking Gold in a personal best time of 1:05.84 and went on to take 4 and a half seconds off his old time for a Gold medal performance in the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:04.55. He captured the Gold again in the 100M Freestyle in a one second personal best time of 58.55, and again in the 200M IM in another personal best time of 2:26.16, and in the 100M IM in a 3 and a half second personal best time of 1:06.64. He added to that with a Bronze medal in the 100M Breaststroke Final in a time of 1:16.68. For his inspiring display at the 3 day event Tim was also awarded the coveted Junior Swimmer of the Meet. The Dolphin A team took Gold in the U14 4 x 50M Medley relay event with the Dolphin B team just placing outside the medals in 4th. This was repeated in the Final of the 4 x 50M Freestyle Relay event with the Dolphin A team taking the Gold again and the Dolphin B team in 4th place.

In the Girls 13-14 age group Ellen O'Brien, Grace O'Doherty, Julie Flood, Louise Coleman, Sarah Hickey, Caitlin Desmond, Sarah Allen, Sarah Clifford all gave strong performances in their respective events. Ellen took almost 3 and a half seconds off her 100M Backstroke time for a new personal best of 1:33.87, and took almost 5 seconds off her 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 2:45.78. Grace took over a second off her own time in the 100M Backstroke for a new PB of 1:23.91, and went on to take almost 9 seconds off her 200M Backstroke time for a new personal best of 2:59.49. She also swam well in the 100M IM with a 2 and a half second personal best of 1:33.18. Julie took over 2 seconds off her 200M Freestyle for a new personal best of 2:47.19, and she took almost 3 seconds off her previous time in the 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:29.29.

Louise took over 2 seconds off her 100M Backstroke for a new personal best time of 1:24.44, and took a further 2 and a half seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:24.05. She also had a personal best of 3:02.80 in her 200M IM, and a further PB in her 100M Breaststroke and 100M Freestyle. Sarah Hickey took over 5 seconds off her 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:24.85, she also had a PB in her 200M Freestyle with a time of 2:37.86, and again in her 200M Backstroke with a time of 2:55.59. She also had a PB in her 100M Freestyle with a time of 1:14.88. Caitlin took over 4 seconds off her old time in the 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:24.73, and added to that with a personal best in her 200M IM with a time of 2;55.52. She also had a personal best swim in her 100M Backstroke, her time of 1:22.78 was half a second faster than her previous time.

Sarah Allen had an imposing 100M Backstroke heat, her time of 1:12.94 was over a second and a half faster than her previous best and guaranteed her a place in the Final lineup where she captured the Silver medal. In the 100M IM heat, her time of 1:14.02 saw her take over a second and a half off her previous best and she went on to take the Silver medal in the event in the Final. She added to this with a Bronze medal in the 100M Freestyle in a time of 1:04.37, and she placed 5th overall in the Final of the 100M Butterfly and 4th in the 200M IM. Sarah Clifford captured Gold in the 100M Butterfly final in a new personal best time of 1:10.59, and added to that a Silver medal in the Final of the 100M Breaststroke with a 3 second personal best time of 1:24.86. She also made the final of the 100M Backstroke and placed 5th in a time of 1:15.53, and also the final of the 100M IM where she placed 4th overall. The Dolphin A team made the Final of the U14 4 x 50M Freestyle relay taking the Bronze medal with the B team placing 6th overall. The Dolphin A relay team were in the Medals again in the 4 x 50M Medley relay, taking a Silver medal for their superb swimming.

In the highly contested Boys 15-16 age group Ross McNulty, Ryan O'Dowling, Tim O'Callaghan, Alex Rathke, and Simon Treacy led the way with some superb swimming. Ross took over 6 seconds off his 100M Breaststroke for a new personal best of 1:19.91, and went on to take a further 3 seconds off his 100M Butterfly for a personal best of 1:10.94. His swim of the meet however came from the 100M IM where he took an astonishing 11 and a half seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 1:09.62 placing him in the top ten in the event. He had a further PB in his 100M Backstroke, taking over 3 and a half seconds off his time to walk away with the Silver medal in a time of 1:05.48. Ryan had a remarkable 100M IM swim also, taking a massive 12 and a half seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 1:11.82. He added to that with personal bests in his 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:12.12, in his 200M Breaststroke in a time of 2:53.85, in his 100M Freestyle in a time of 1:02.31 and again in his 100M Freestyle in a time of 1:02.31 which saw him take almost 2 and a half seconds off his previous time.

Tim had a strong finish in his 200M Backstroke, his time of 2:36.00 was a personal best by over 2 and a half seconds. He then added to that with another great swim in his 100M IM where he took over 3 seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 1:14.92. He also had a personal best swim in his 200M IM with a time of 2:32.99. Alex stormed home in his 200M Backstroke to take the Bronze medal in a time of 2:25.24. He pushed hard in the heats of the 100M Backstroke to qualify for a place in the Final where he finished 5th overall. He also placed highly in his 200M IM event, finishing 4th in a time of 2:26.32 and gave a good performance in his 100M IM with a personal best of over half a second with a time of 1:10.30. Simon however proved to be the one to watch at the meet, with Solid Gold performances in 4 out of the 5 events in which he competed. He went under the minute in the Final of the 100M Butterfly, his time of 59.53 a PB of over half a second giving him Gold for his efforts. He then went on to take Gold in the 100M Backstroke in a fast 1.02.09, his heat time of 1:01.72 a personal best by over a second. He had a powerful 100M IM swim, taking Gold with a personal best time of 1:01.86, knocking over 2 seconds off his old time. In his 200M IM event, he took over a second off his time for a new personal best of 2:16.77. His only Silver medal of the meet came from the 100M Freestyle, a highly contested event which saw him go under the 55 mark for a new personal best of 54.90. The Dolphin A team took Silver in the Under 16 4 x 50M Medley Relay and went on to take Bronze in the Final of the 4 x 50M Freestyle Relay.

In the girls 15-16 age group swimmers Alysha Hoare, Aoibheann Murphy, Catherine Noonan, Susan Callanan all took part. Alysha knocked almost 3 and a half seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best time of 1:28.33. Aoibheann took over 4 and a half seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:22.49. Catherine though unwell over the weekend took part in the 100M Freestyle and performed well with a time just outside her best. Susan was right up there amongst the winners taking home 1 Gold and 2 Silver for her efforts. She easily took the top spot and Gold in the 200M IM with a personal best time of 2:32.92, over a second faster than her previous time. She took Silver in the 200M Freestyle with a time of 2:15.80 and went on to take Silver in the 100M Freestyle in a 1:01.29 time. The Dolphin A Relay team took Bronze in the Final of the U16 Girls 4 x 50M Freestyle Relay.

Flying the flag high in the Mens 17 & over age group were swimmers Kieran Donovan and Reggie Murphy. Kieran had a notable performance in the 200M Freestyle, taking almost 3 and a half seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 2:07.34. He also finished strongly in the 100M Backstroke placing 6th overall and 9th in the 100M Freestyle. Reggie had a great 100M Backstroke heat, making it through to the Final were he placed 4th overall. He also made it to the final oif the 100M IM and gained himself a personal best time in the process as well as a 5th place ranking. He was close to his best in the 100M Freestyle and managed to come in 8th overall in the event. Kieran and Reggie were joined by Dolphin Masters Swimmer Eoin Donovan and by Tim O'Callaghan in the Mens 17 & Over 4 x 50M Freestyle relay which saw their team come third and take the Bronze medal! Joined on the 4 x 50M Medley team by Mateusz Rudak the Mens A team placed just outside the medals in 4th.

In the Womens 17 & Over Stephanie Allen was flanked by Masters Swimmers Carol Cashell and Rose Twomey who took part alongside her at the meet. Stephanie cruised home to take second easily in the 100M Freestyle, and went on to take a further Silver in the Final of the 100M Backstroke. She also took home a Bronze for her efforts in the 100M IM and a further Silver in the 200M Freestyle. Carol dived in to take part in the 200M IM, her time of 2:55.03 saw her place a very respectable 5th overall in the open event. Rose took part in the Final of the 100M Backstroke alongside club mate Stephanie, though swimming outside her best she did manage to place a respectable 4th overall. Joining them on the relays were Dolphin Masters Swimmers Claire O'Halpin and Sharon Concarr, which saw the womens team take the Bronze medal for the 4 x 50M Medley and 4 x 50M Freestyle Relays!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the committee and organisers of the event, our sponsors, all the officials and of course Mayfield Sports Complex Staff for their unwavering support in the lead up to and throughout the event. We would also like to thank the hardworking parents who supported the event by helping out in the canteen in the community school - Maeve Mulcahy, Marie O'Brien, Karen Kelly, Helen Desmond, Eilish O'Doherty to name but a few - and all who contributed by making and baking throughout the weekend. Your support continues to be greatly appreciated.

A Special Congratulations goes to Ellen O'Brien for making her Grade A qualifying time in her 100M Backstroke and 200M Freestyle, we look forward to seeing her do well at this level in the future. Further congratulations go to Jerry Clifford for making his Grade A qualifying times in his 100M IM, 100M Butterfly, 100M Backstroke, and 100M Freestyle and to newcomer Lukas Maly who made his Grade A qualifying standards in his 100M IM, 100M Breaststroke, 100M Butterfly and 100M Freestyle. A special mention goes to Swimmers Tara Desmond on making her Grade A qualifying time in her 100M Backstroke, Emma Richardson for making her Grade A qualifying time in the 100M Backstroke, Jennifer Cosgrave for making her Grade A qualifying time in the 100M Freestyle and 100M Breaststroke and Rebecca Farrelly for making her Grade A qualifying time in the 100M Breaststroke and for her fine performance in the 100M IM which saw her only .55 outside of the 100M IM Grade A qualifying time.

Well done to all the Swimmers and Coaches on their success - the results speak for themselves, and we now look forward to a very positive and successful 2008/2009 Season. Go Dolphin!

Sometimes it can be hard to stand out at National level amongst the star studded Dublin and Belfast clubs but not so for the members of the Dolphin Team attending this years Irish Age Group Youth & Open Championships in the National Aquatic Centre, Dublin. With an eventful week at the Venue, which had just successfully hosted the Irish Age Group Division 1 championships which saw Dolphin's Junior Team bring home a National Silver and National Bronze medal, it was the turn of the Dolphin Elite to take center stage and bring home titles of their own, with one National Gold, 2 National Silver and 3 National Bronze medals returning to Cork.

Swimming in the competitive Girls Under 14 age group were Sarah Clifford and Sarah Allen. Sarah Clifford had a heavy schedule of events, taking it in her stride with some outstanding performances which earned her a place in the Final of the 100M Butterfly where she placed 5th overall in a time of 1:13.07, and just placed outside of the medals in the Final of the 200M Butterfly with a time of 2:50.66. She had a powerful swim in her 50M Butterfly, clocking a new personal best time of 32.15.

Sarah Allen featured in a number of Finals, having given powerful performances in the heats of her events. Placing 5th in the final of the 200M Backstroke she took over 3 and a half seconds off her old time for a new personal best of 2:38.62. She also featured in the 100M Butterfly final alongside team mate Sarah Clifford, and took the Bronze medal in a 2 and a half second personal best time of 1:10.27. In the Final of the 100M Backstroke, Sarah took over 4 and a half seconds off her previous best for 5th place and a new PB of 1:14.10. She swam into the medals in the final of the 200M Butterfly taking an exceptional 18 and a half seconds off her old time for a new personal best and Bronze medal winning time of 2:44.09.

In the Under 15 Boys Age group, Tim O'Callaghan and Stephen O'Shaughnessy battled it out for places in the Finals of their events. Tim had an outstanding meet, with personal best times in all his events including an excellent first time swim of 19:15.16 in the challenging 1500M Long course Freestyle event which saw him place 6th overall. Tim took over 9 seconds off his 400M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 4:47.07, and took almost 6 seconds off his 200M Freestyle previous best with a new personal best swim of 2:15.68. He topped it all off with a personal best of over 2 and a half seconds in his 100M Freestyle, with a time of 1:01.72.

Stephen O'Shaughnessy showed his prowess at the distance Freestyle events with a superb 1500M Swim which saw him shave over 57 seconds off his previous best for a new PB time of 18:41.11 and capture the Silver medal for the event. He added to that with a powerful performance in his 400M Freestyle event, taking over 10 seconds off his time for a new personal best of 4:48.84 and then went on to take over 3 seconds off his 200M Freestyle time with a new personal best of 2:18.09.

Standing alone in the Girls Under 15 age group was Susan Callanan and she proved more than a match for her rivals, taking the Gold medal in spectacular style in the 100M Freestyle final with a new personal best long course time of 1:00.53. Susan went on to take Silver in the 200M IM with a 3 second personal best time of 2:34.48 and then added to that with a Bronze winning performance in the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:09.48, again setting a new personal best. Competing in the 50M Freestyle event, she set a time of 29.35 in the heats and in the heat of the 50M Butterfly set a new personal best time of 31.59. She also took part in the 200M Freestyle, setting a time of 2:20.69.

In the highly competitive Boys under 16 age group, Ross McNulty, Alex Rathke and Simon Treacy all had extraordinary swims with Personal Best times recorded all round. Ross took an impressive 20 seconds off his 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 2:21.75 and also recorded a personal best in the 50M Freestyle with a time of 27.98. Alex knocked over 5 seconds off his previous time in the 200M Backstroke heats with a time of 2:29.24, making the Final where he placed 7th overall.

He then went on to take over 5 seconds off his 400M Freestyle time, recording a new personal best of 4:35.97 and qualifying for a final placing where he took 7th overall. In the 200M Freestyle, he took over a second and a half off for a new personal best of 2:09.77, and in the 100M Freestyle he again recorded a new personal best of 59.60. His time of 27.57 in the heats of the 50M Freestyle was half a second faster than his previous best.

Simon knocked over half a second off his 50M Butterfly time with a new personal best of 27.73, and took almost half a second off his 50M Breaststroke time for a new personal best of 34.40. His personal best of 57.33 in the heats of the 100M Freestyle was enough to see him into the fast paced final where he placed 8th overall.

Unfortunately a disqualification in the 100M Butterfly for supposedly remaining under water past the 15M water at the race start, after putting in an incredible performance which saw him touch home first in a time of 61.0, saw Simon out of medals in that event but he bounced back with an outstanding 200M Butterfly Final which saw him snap up the Silver medal in the event with a 2:18.42 time. He recorded another personal best, this time in the heats of the 200M IM with a time of 2:22.72 taking him into the Final where he placed 6th overall. He also made the final of the 100M Breaststroke taking the 5th overall position.

In the 17 & Over Womens age group was swimmer Stephanie Allen who though swimming outside her best times put in some great performances that saw her rank highly in the Backstroke events. Her time of 2:41.56 saw her take 11th overall in the Open 200M Backstroke and her time of 1:14.69 saw her place 10th overall in the Open 100M Backstroke.

In the 17-18 Mens Age Group, Kieran Donovan and Reggie Murphy turned on the style with Kieran setting the pace with a fast lead off in the Mens 4x100 Freestyle relay with a time of 1:00.68 which was another personal best, having already performed strongly in his individual 100M Freestyle event with a personal best of 1:01.03. He also took part in the 400M Freestyle event, clocking up a 4:38.00 time which was close to his personal best.

Reggie easily made the Final of the 200M Backstroke where he placed 5th overall in a time of 2:25.77, a new personal best. He also performed well in his 100M Backstroke event, taking over a second off his old time for a new personal best of 1:05.70. He also recorded a new personal best time in the heats of the 50M freestyle, with a 27.88 and placed well in his 100M Freestyle in a time of 1:01.28.

Many thanks to the officials and parents who made the trip up to Dublin for the championships, their help as always was greatly appreciated. Well done to all the swimmers on their achievements, we hope they enjoy their summer vacation and look forward to seeing them in action in the pool in September when the new Season kicks off. Go Dolphin!

With a wealth of Irish Junior Swimming Talent on display, Dolphin's squad of 4 held their own over the 3 day event at the National Aquatic Centre, Dublin. With over 200 swimmers from 54 clubs competing in this prestigous event, Dolphin Swimmers Patrick Daly, Emma Hobbs, Daniel Hobbs and Tim Daly brought home a plethora of Personal Best Times as well as a National Silver and National Bronze Medal from the championships.

In the competitive 11-12 age category were swimmers Patrick Daly and Emma Hobbs. Patrick took over 18 seconds off his long course time in the 200M IM with a new personal best of 2:48.89, qualifying for the final where he placed 8th overall. He took over 11 seconds off his 200 Freestyle time, setting a new PB of 2:35.47. In the 100M Freestyle, he took almost 4 seconds off his long course time with a new personal best of 1:12.95. Patrick also competed in the 200M Breaststroke, setting a time of 3:15.40 in the heats which qualified him for a fast paced final where he placed a very respectable 4th in a new personal best of 3:13.03.

Emma pushed hard in her breaststroke events, her 100M Breaststroke heat saw her qualify for the final where she just placed outside the medals in a time of 1:27.91, a personal best. In her 200M Breaststroke Emma held her own the entire race, finishing 3rd and taking the Bronze medal with a time of 3:08.40, 10 seconds faster than her nearest rival. She also took part in the 100M Freestyle event, swimming just outside her PB with a time of 1:15.81.

In the fiercely competitive Boys Under 14 age group, swimmers Daniel Hobbs and Tim Daly proved their mettle with some outstanding performances. Daniel knocked over 3 and a half seconds off his old time in the 200M Breaststroke event, with a new personal best of 2:58.81 it was enough to see him into the Final where he placed 8th overall.

Swimming also in the Freestyle events, he took almost 8 seconds off his 400M Freestyle with a new personal best of 4:46.42, placing him 11th overall in the age group. In the 200 Freestyle, he took almost 2 seconds off his previous time for a new personal best of 2:16.40. He also completed the 100M Freestyle prelims in a time of 1:04.57.

Tim Daly powered his way through his 100M Butterfly heat taking an incredible 22 seconds off his previous long course time, for a new personal best of 1:07.00 easily qualifying for the fast paced Final where he took a very respectable 6th place position overall. He was equally impressive in his 100M Backstroke, taking over 5 seconds off in the heats for a new personal best of 1:10.30 and went on in the Final to improve his time further with another personal best time, 1:09.88 and 7th place overall.

Tim's new personal best time of 1:18.11 in the 100M Breaststroke heat was enough to see him into the final where he placed just outside the medals in 4th with again a personal best time of 1:16.61, over a second and a half faster than his entry time. His swim of the championships came from the 200M IM, he took over 3 and a half seconds off his old time in the heats with a personal best of 2:28.51. Qualifying fastest going into the Finals, he held on at the finish to take the Silver medal in a new personal best time of 2:26.57.

It is an achievement in itself to make the qualifying standards for this National event, and we would like to congratulate the swimmers on their exceptional performances. We look forward to seeing many of our other young swimmers stepping up to the challenge of making the qualifying times for next years event and we wish them all the very best of luck for the new Season starting in September. Go Dolphin!

The recent Irish Age Group Division 2 Championships showed that while the qualifying standards get tougher each year, so do the competitors. Again competing with the best Irish Swimmers at this level, Dolphin's squad of 10 Swimmers held their own time and time again over the tough 3 day championships held at the 50M UL Arena on the 27th, 28th and 29th June 2008, bringing home 3 indiviudal Gold, 1 Silver and capturing Gold medals in the U14 Boys Medley and Freestyle relay events.

This year competing in the 11-12 age group were Amy Cunningham, and Thomas Treacy. Placing exceptionally well in her age group overall, Amy managed to drop 3.5 seconds in the 100M Backstroke event for a new personal best time of 1:25.84 and added to that with an incredible 4 and a half second personal best in the 200M Freestyle for a time of 2:52.58.

Thomas pulled out all the stops in his events, placing an exceptional 6th overall in the Final of the 100M Butterfly event, with a personal best time of 1:27.36, faster again than the personal best recorded in the heat. He also made the final of the 100M Freestyle, and placed 8th in a time of 1:12.96. He placed 8th overall in the 200M IM in a personal best time of 3:01.16. However his swim of the meet came from the 200M Freestyle event where he took over 15 seconds off his previous best to record a new time of 2:37.20.

In the 13-14 age group were Louise Coleman, Grace O'Doherty, Caitlin Desmond, Sarah Hickey, Mateusz Rudak, Alex McNulty and Cian Mulcahy. Louise placed well in all her events, particularly the 100M Breaststroke where she took 9th place in her heat. Grace pushed hard in all her events, giving a gutsy performance which earned her personal bests and very respectable placings in what is a highly contested age group. She took over 3 seconds off her previous best in the 100M Backstroke with a time of 1:24.92, then took almost 2 and a half seconds off her 100M Freestyle for a time of 1:14.86 and took over 3 seconds off her 200M Freestyle for a time of 2:38.55. She also shaved 2.5 seconds off her 100M Butterfly for a new personal best of 1:38.12 and almost 2.5 seconds off her 200M IM for a time of 3:14.20.

Caitlin Desmond had an exceptional meet, with personal bests in her 200M Freestyle, 100M Freestyle, and 100M Backstroke events. She took over a second off her previous best in the 200M Freestyle to record a time of 2:33.93 and 8th place overall. She went on to take almost a second off her 100M Freestyle with a new personal best time of 1:12.27 and in the 100M Backstroke took half a second off for a new PB of 1:23.33.

Sarah took a whopping 10 seconds off her previous best for the 100M Butterfly, recording a personal best of 1:36.66. She also had an excellent 200M IM swim which saw her take almost 5 seconds off her old time for a new personal best of 2:56.89. She also took over 1.5 seconds off her 100M Freestyle swim for a new personal best time of 1:15.17.

Mateusz was just outside of a podium finish in the hotly contested 100M Breaststroke event, but finished a very respectable 4th overall with a personal best time of 1:24.95, almost 3 seconds faster than his previous best. He also had an exceptional swim in his 200M IM with a 12 second personal best of 2:53.19 placing him 11th overall, and in his 100M Backstroke where he took over 4 and a half seconds off his old time for a new personal best time of 1:23.00. He had a further personal best in the 100M Freestyle, taking almost 2.5 seconds off for a time of 1:08.43.

Alex McNulty pulled out a 13 second personal best in the 200M IM with a 2:55.73 swim and took almost 2 seconds off his 200M Freestyle with a personal best of 2:22.16. He also swam strongly in his 100M Backstroke event, recording another personal best time of 1:20.67.

Cian Mulcahy had a sensational Division 2 meet, leading the field in his 100M Butterfly final to take the title and Gold Medal in a personal best time of 1:07.12. He outswam his rivals in the final of the 100M Backstroke event to take the Gold Medal and top spot, powering home in a personal best time of 1:09.25 which was over a second faster again that the personal best he recorded in the heats of the same event.

He added to that with an outstanding performance in the 200M IM, clearly dominating the event and taking the Gold again in a fast 2:33.73, almost 8 seconds faster than his previous best time. In a hotly contested 100M Freestyle event that went down to the wire Cian got the touch for second and the Silver medal in an excellent 1:02.78, again pulling out a further personal best to the one he recorded in the earlier heat. He also made 8th overall in the competitive 200M Freestyle event, with a 4 second personal best time of 2:21.78.

In the 15-16 age category Alysha Hoare held her own despite facing stiff competition in her age group placing well in all her events, especially in the 200M Freestyle event and pulling out a personal best in the 100M Backstroke event, taking over 2 seconds off her previous best time for a new personal best of 1:34.03.

The Boys 13-14 age group relay made up of Alex McNulty, Mateusz Rudak, Thomas Treacy and Cian Mulcahy took to the pool in spectacular fashion, beating off stiff competition to take Gold in both the 4 x 50M Medley and Freestyle events. In the Girls 13-14 4 x 50M Medley relay, made up of Caitlin Desmond, Amy Cunningham, Sarah Hickey and Louise Coleman, the girls placed well in the heats making the Finals where they pushed hard to take the 7th position overall. In the 13-14 4 x 50M Freestyle relay made up of Grace O'Doherty, Louise Coleman, Sarah Hickey and Caitlin Desmond the girls placed a very respectable 6th overall.

Congratulations to all the swimmers who worked so hard over the past few weeks and months to train for this important event, we wish them every success in next seasons competitions. A special thank you goes to all the officials, and especially the parents who travelled to the Championships with the swimmers, offering them support and encouragement during the warm ups and Finals.

We would like to wish those swimmers still preparing for the Irish Age Groups Division 1 & Youth and Seniors all the very best with their continued training schedule, and the very best of luck at the meets themselves. Go Dolphin!

The honour of representing Munster at the Interprovincials 2008 was afforded to some of Dolphins most promising young swimmers. The Championships were held at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin on the 22nd June 2008, showcasing the swimming talent of each of the provinces. Thomas and Simon Treacy, Patrick Daly, Emma Hobbs, Darren O'Dowling, Sarah Clifford, Sarah Allen, Tim Daly, Cian Mulcahy and Alex Rathke all gave gutsy performances on the day, with several personal best times being recorded.

Patrick Daly took over 2 and a half seconds off his best in the 100M Breaststroke to record a new personal best time of 1:26.79, placing him 3rd overall in the event. Emma Hobbs knocked almost a second off her 100M Breaststroke time for a new personal best of 1:25.64 placing her just outside out of a podium finish with 4th place overall in her age group.

Darren O'Dowling scored points for Munster in his 100M Butterfly with a time of 1:18.93, placing him 7th overall. Sarah Allen powered home in the 100M Butterfly to take second place in a time of 1:09.58 with team mate Sarah Clifford taking the 5th place in the same event in a time of 1:12.47.

Cian Mulcahy knocked over 2 and a half seconds off his 100M Butterfly time for a new personal best time of 1:07.60, giving him 2nd place overall in his age group in the event. Team mate Tim Daly in the same age group pushed hard in the 100M Backstroke to take 2nd place with a personal best time of 1:06.52, almost a second and a half quicker than previous swims. He added to that with a 3rd place finish in the 100M Breaststroke in a time of 1:16.36 and a 7th place in the 100M Freestyle.

Alex Rathke had a fine 3rd place finish in the 200M Freestyle with a time of 2:06.51, and went on to place 5th in the 100M Backstoke in a time of 1:07.63. Team mate Simon took the top spot in the 100M Butterfly in a fast time of 1:01.07 and added to it with a second place finish in the 200M IM in a personal best time of 2:17.89. His final swim afforded him a respectable 3rd place finish in the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:03.00, almost a second and a half faster than his previous best.

Well done to the Dolphin Swimmers, and to all the swimmers from Munster taking part. We look forward to seeing more of their club mates competing at this level in the near future. Go Dolphin!

A Gauntlet had been thrown down - who would be brave enough to challenge themselves in an 800M or 1500M time trial? The chosen few arrived on Saturday evening to the pool and took part in what was a very successful event.

From the Am Squad, Alex Rathke, and Ellen O'Brien took on the daunting 1500M with ease and Caitlin Desmond the 800M.

From the PM Squad Billy Mulcahy completed the gruelling 1500M, with team mates Jack O'Brien, John O'Shaughnessy and Robert Twomey taking on the challenging 800M swim.

From the Masters Squad, Carol Cashell and Maeve Mulcahy completed their 1500M swims in impressive style with Carol Cashell coming in at the 800M 2 seconds faster than the current U34 Irish Masters Record for a time of 10:36.20 and an over a full minute faster at the 1500M than the current Irish Masters Record with a time of 20:21.74.

Congratulations go to Billy Mulcahy on setting the 1500M Boys 10 Years Club Record with an impressive 26:31.59 time, and to Robert Twomey for setting the 800M Boys 10 Years Club Record with a time of 14:06.53. The full set of times are now available to download from the Seasons Results page!

Meanwhile Dolphin Swimmers were selected to represent their province at the upcoming interpros. Congratulations and Well Done to Emma Hobbs, Sarah Allen, Sarah Hickey and Susan Callanan, Thomas Treacy, Patrick Daly, Darren O Dowling, Cian Mulcahy, Tim Daly and Simon Treacy on their selection to the Munster Interprovincial Swim Team that will represent Munster at the NAC on Sunday 22nd June.

Dolphin had a strong respresentation this year at the Graded Finals held at Mallow Pool on Saturday 14th June, which saw teams from all over the Munster region take part in what is usually regarded as the final chance to make Grade A and B qualifying times within the current competitive Season. With a team of 27 Swimmers competing, Dolphin swam into the medals with 7 Individual Golds, 12 Silver Medals and 6 Bronze Medals.

In the U11 Girls Grade C, Swimmers Sinead Mills, Niamh Moloney, Cliona O'Brien, Laura Clifford, and Ally Cunningham all had very impressive swims. Sinead competed in two events, and secured a top 5 placing in both taking almost a second off her best time in the 50M Butterfly for a new personal best of 53.10, and taking over 3 and a half seconds off her 50M Breaststroke time for a new personal best of 51.89, coming in under the Grade B qualifying time of 52.00.

Niamh lead the field in the 50M Breaststroke, securing the top podium spot with a time of 51.09. Cliona proved hard to beat in the 100M IM, taking the Gold medal in a time of 1:39.90. She went on to take the silver medal in the 50M Breaststroke behind team mate Niamh in a time of 51.25, and also took Silver in the 50M Butterfly in a time of 49.69.

Laura Clifford snapped up the Gold Medal in the 50M Freestyle with an excellent time of 39.16. She also took Bronze in the 100M Freestyle, taking over 5 seconds off her old personal best in the process for a new PB of 1:26.97. She also recorded a PB in her 50M Butterfly with a time of 53.34. Ally powered home in the 50M Backstroke to take second place and Silver medal in a new personal best time of 45.80, almost 3 seconds faster than her old time. She went on to take Bronze in the 50M Freestyle event, again with a personal best time of 40.25, knocking almost 2 seconds off her previous best.

In the Boys Under 11 Grade C, Dolphin was represented by Ronan Fahy, Neil O'Brien, Mark Auf Der Heyde, Nathan Manson Browne, Robert Twomey and John O'Shaughnessy. Ronan took to the water for two events, the 50M Butterfly where he placed 5th overall in a time of 1:06.26 and the 50M Breaststroke where his time of 1:06.45 placed him 13th. Neil also took part in the 50M Butterfly and stormed home in a personal best of over 4 seconds, his time of 56:56 just outside podium placings giving him a very fine 4th overall. Neil also competed in the 50M Breaststroke, his time of 54.50 was over a second and a half faster than his previous best and placed him 6th overall.

Mark Auf Der Heyde competed in the 50M Breaststroke, and managed a very respectable 8th overall place with a time of 55.37 in what was a highly contested event. Nathan powered home in the same event, the 50M Breaststroke, to take the Silver Medal in a time of 53.38, over 5 seconds faster than his previous best.

Robert pushed hard in the 50M Backstroke to take the Silver medal in a time of 44.97, just fractionally outside of his current PB and went on to take the Bronze Medal in the 100M IM in a time of 1:39.63, almost a second and a half faster than his previous best and qualifying him for Grade B. He also took over 2 seconds off his 100M Freestyle to record a new personal best of 1:30.4, just outside of the Grade B time in this event.

John O'Shaughnessy continued his successful season with more wins, this time in the 50M Butterfly where he took the Silver medal in a time of 50.06, a personal best of almost 3 and a half seconds! He added to this with a Silver Medal in the 100M IM, his time of 1:38.14 was a personal best of over 3 and a half seconds. His final medal of the meet, a Bronze, came from the 50M Breaststroke swim where he took 3rd in a time of 53.43.

In the Boys Under 13 Grade C, Adam Fahy had a tremendous 100M IM swim recording a personal best of over 2 and a half seconds. His time of 1:41.70 sees him moving closer to the Grade B qualifying time and was enough to secure him a very respectable 4th overall position in this competitive age group.

In the Girls Under 11 Grade B, Tara Desmond, Emma Richardson, Yvonne Kelleher, Niamh Kelly, Rebecca Farrelly all impressed with their tremendous swimming. Tara, though swimming slightly outside of her personal best, pushed hard in all 4 of her events and placed within the top ten in what was a very competitive age group. Emma had an excellent 100M Backstroke event, her time of 1:35.70 close to the Grade A qualifying time of 1:35.00 and was a personal best of over 1 and a half seconds placing her 5th overall.

Yvonne Kelleher competed in one event, the 100M Freestyle, and took over 2 seconds off her previous best for a new time of 1:36.25 which saw her place 8th overall. Niamh Kelly was unbeatable in the 100M Butterfly, taking the Gold in a time of 1:53.98. Her time of 1:54.16 in the 100M Breaststroke was enough to see her place 5th overall in the event. Rebecca managed to knock over 3 seconds off her 100M Breaststroke time for a new personal best of 1:47.59 which saw her take the Silver Medal. She also took over a second off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:35.42 and saw her place 4th overall.

In the Boys Under 11 Grade B, Darren Twomey, Angus Gill, Billy Mulcahy and Ross Kavanagh all had success in their events. Darren took Bronze in the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:37.00 and placed 5th in the 100M IM and 100M Breaststroke. Angus swam strongly in the 100M Breaststroke to take the Bronze medal in a time of 1:44.21. He also placed 4th in the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:39.40. Billy took to the pool for his 200M Freestyle event and easily took Bronze in a time of 3:02.81.

Ross Kavanagh took the top spot and Gold medal in the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:32.91, and went on to take the Silver Medal in the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:35.16, and Silver again in the 100M Freestyle in a time of 1:18.69, a personal best of over 3 seconds. He also placed 4th in the 100M IM and 100M Breaststroke.

In the Girls Under 13 Grade B, Louise Coleman was the sole representative in this age group and secured the top spot and Gold Medal in her 100M IM with a time of 1:26.78, a personal best of over 1 and a half seconds. She also took Gold in the 100M Breaststroke in a time of 1:33.63.

In the Boys Under 13 Grade B, Jack O'Brien, Colin O'Neil and Jerry Clifford all took part with Jack competing in the 100M Butterfly. His time of 1:55.44 was enough to see him place 7th overall. Colin powered home in the 200M Freestyle with a personal best of almost 5 and a half seconds, his time of 2:49.63 placed him 6th overall. He also had a tremendous swim in the 100M Backstroke, his time of 1:32.19 saw him shave almost 2 seconds off his old time for a new personal best and 5th place spot.

Jerry Clifford was just outside of the medals in the 100M Butterfly, his time of 1:37.37 was a personal best of over 3 seconds and saw him take a very respectable 4th place position. He also had an excellent swim in his 200M Freestyle, taking over a second and a half off his time for a new personal best of 2:48.84 and bringing him closer to qualifying for Grade A. His 100M Freestyle swim gave him his final PB of the meet, his time of 1:23.27 saw him place 9th overall.

In the Girls Under 15 Grade B, Ellen O'Brien and Julie Flood both had fantastic swims with Ellen recording another personal best in her 100M Backstroke event with a time of 1:37.28. Julie took a whopping 6 and a half seconds off her personal best in the 200M Freestyle, her time of 2:49.53 gave her the Silver Medal in the event. She won again, another Silver this time in the 100M Backstroke with a time of 1:30.81, a PB of over a second. In her 100M Breaststroke event, she took over 4 seconds off to place 6th in a time of 1:45.47.

Well done to all swimmers who took part, their outstanding performances reflected the hard work they have put in this season and we wish them continued success in future competition. We wish them all the best for their Summer hiatus and look forward to seeing them all back in the squad sessions in September. Go Dolphin!

Dolphin Swimmers certainly showed off their talents at the recent Grade B Meet in Mayfield Sports Complex, held on Sunday 8th June, with an abundance of personal best times so late in the season and took home a very successful haul of 2 Gold, 5 Silver and 4 Bronze Individual medals to boot!

Never failing to impress are the Under 11's, who pull out all the stops at each gala, constantly striving to improve on their times and performances. Making their Grade B competitive debut at this meet were Maeve McCarthy, Laura Clifford, Cliona O'Brien and Ally Cunningham. Maeve knocked almost 2 seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:41.03 and swam strongly in the 100 Backstroke for a time of 1:48.13 and in the 100M Breaststroke in a time of 1:53.40. Laura set a new personal best in her 100M Freestyle for a time of 1:32.02, and in the 200M Freestyle she finished strongly in a time of 3:15.15.

Cliona had an excellent swim in the 100M IM, placing 5th in a time of 1:38.44 and added to that with fast swims in the 100M Breaststroke in a time of 1:53.63 and the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:44.74. Ally also swam well in her 200M Freestyle, with a 3:20.44 time and went on to have a very powerful 100M Backstroke swim with a 1:44.48 time.

Emma Richardson knocked over 6 seconds off her 200M Freestyle time, bringing it down to a 3:13.76 and went on to take over 4 seconds off her 100M Backstroke time for 4th place and a new personal best of 1:37.42, edging her closer to the Grade A qualifying time of under 1:35. Rebecca Farrelly shaved 5 seconds off her 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 3:13.93, and went on to take over 4 seconds off her 100M IM time for a Silver Medal and new personal best time of 1:36.69.

Niamh Kelly took over 5 seconds off her 200M Freestyle for a new personal best of 3:17.84 and went on then to take the Silver Medal in the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:59.41. Her team mate Tara Desmond clocked up a personal best in the 200M Freestyle of 3:06.89 placing her in 6th position in the event and she then went on to take the Gold Medal in the 100M Butterfly in a fast 1:57.59.

Making his Grade B debut in the Under 11 Boys was John O'Shaughnessy with an impressive 200M Freestyle time of 3:13.50 which placed him 8th overall. He also had a strong swim in his 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:41.19, again placing him 8th. He went on to place 6th overall in the 100M Breaststroke in a time of 1:56.82.Ethan Keane placed 7th in the 100M Breaststroke in a time of 1:58.57 and went on to take over 2 seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best time of 1:41.50, placing him 9th overall.

Billy Mulcahy stormed home in the Freestyle events, narrowly missing out on a podium spot in the 200M Freestyle with an excellent 2 second personal best of 3:00.82 for a 4th place finish, and topped that with a 3rd place and Bronze Medal in the 100M Freestyle where he took over 6 seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 1:22.59, again edging closer to the Grade A qualifying time of 1:19. He also took over a second and a half off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:40.81.

Darren Twomey dropped almost 4 seconds in the 100M Breaststroke for a new personal best time of 1:48.72 and a Bronze Medal. He placed just outside of the medals in the 100M Backstroke, his time of 1:36.81 giving him 4th place overall. Angus Gill once again showed his talent for the Breaststroke event with a medal winning performance in the 100M, his time of 1:43.62 was over a 5 and a half second personal best and he is now closer than ever to the Grade A qualifying time of under 1:42. Angus also had a notable 100M IM with a personal best time of 1:40.31 which placed him 6th overall.

In the Under 13 Girls age Category Jennifer Cosgrave represented Dolphin with striking swims, her 100M Freestyle time of 1:24.01 was a personal best of over 8 seconds and very close to the 1:23 Grade A qualifying time. She went on however to make a Grade A qualifying time in her 100M Breaststroke with a powerful swim of 1:43.66. She also took over 8 seconds off her previous best in the 100M IM, for a new personal best of 1:34.06.

In the Boys Under 13 age group, Anthony Creed took over 2 and a half seconds off his best in the 100M Butterfly for a new personal best of 2:05.53, and went on to take a further 4 seconds off his 100M IM for a new personal best time of 1:41.63. Jack O'Brien took a whopping 8 seconds off his 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 3:08.15, and went on to place 8th overall in the 100M Butterfly in another personal best of 1:53.65.

Jerry Clifford improved his 200M Freestyle with a personal best of over 2 and a half seconds, his time of 2:50.44 taking him one step closer to the Grade A qualifying time of Under 2:48 and placing him 3rd overall with the Bronze Medal in the event. He also went on to claim a new personal best in the 100M Freestyle in a time of 1:23.75 which was enough to see him take a respectable 7th place overall. He also had a fast first time swim in the 100M Backstroke event with a 1:35.15 time.

In the Under 15 age group representing the club were Ellen O'Brien and Blathain Lynch. Ellen had a spectacular 200M Freestyle swim, with an almost 5 second personal best. Her time of 2:50.70 well inside the Grade A qualifying time and placed her 3rd overall with the Bronze medal in this event. She also had a fine 100M Backstroke performance, finishing strongly to place 5th overall with a new 4 second PB of 1:37.44, again getting her closer to achieving her Grade A in this event. She added to that with an excellent 100M Breaststroke where she took 8 and a half seconds off her old time for a new personal best of 1:46.28, again getting her closer to the Grade A qualifying standard of 1:44.

Blathain Lynch shaved over 4 seconds off her 200M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 3:07.71, and went on to take over a second and a half off her personal best in the 100M Backstroke for the Gold Medal, Grade A Qualifying time and new PB time of 1:29.34. She added to that with a Silver Medal and Grade A qualifing time in the 100M Breaststroke, her time of 1:41.88 was over 6 and a half seconds faster than her previous best. Her final Silver Medal and Grade A Qualifying time came from the 100M IM, her time of 1:30.22 was a 5 second personal best.

Special thanks to all the Dolphin Officials, parents and supporters for giving of their time so generously over the weekend to help organise and run the event. Without this, we would be unable to host competitions with such an enviable track record as we have done in the past and hope to do so again in the future. A sincere thank you to the parents who supplied the delicious goodies for the officials, especially to Helen Desmond and Marie O'Brien for keeping the tea/coffee and Sandwiches coming!

Congratulations to all the swimmers who made it a very memorable event, well done on all your outstanding achievements this season. As the 2007/2008 Season draws to a close we congratulate the swimmers who have secured a place at the Graded Finals which are due to take place in Mallow on Saturday 14th June. We wish them all the very best of luck in their events, and we continue to wish all the swimmers in the squad every success in future seasons. For those swimmers whose training will be at an end this week, enjoy your summer break and we look forward to seeing you in the pool again at the start of the '08/'09 Season in September. Go Dolphin!

Saturday 24th May 2008 - Fun and fast times as the Saturday morning non competitive squads took to the water under the guidance of head coaches Brenda O'Dowling, Berna Donovan and Joe Mulcahy to enjoy a taste of competition as they took part in the end of season squads gala at the Mayfield pool.

With Swimmers in the younger and older categories performing well with outstanding personal bests and first times, it marked the end of the Lane Training for the 2007/2008 Season. Well done to all the swimmers who took part, especially the younger swimmers who braved the 50M events!

We look forward to seeing them all back in the water in their squads in September. For all those interested in the times and places achieved, the results are now available for download on the Season Results page. Go Dolphin!

4 Dolphin Swimmers made the trek to the University of Limerick at the weekend, 24th & 25th May, for the Munster/Connaught Long Course Meet. With Clubs such as Kingdom, Waterford Crystal, Galway, Ennis and Limerick in attendance it made for a highly exciting and competitive gala with the Dolphin team taking home 4 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze Medal between them as well as numerous outstanding personal best long course times.

Representing the Under 12's was Emma Hobbs, who enjoyed a particularly successful meet. Emma gave a top notch performance in her 50M Breaststroke, taking the Gold medal in a personal best time of 39.88, over 7 and a half seconds off her previous long course time. She then went on to win Gold again this time in the 100M Breaststroke taking a staggering 11 seconds off her old mark for a new long course personal best of 1:28.15. She complemented this with another win, this time Gold for the 200M Breaststroke in a personal best time of 3:07.64. Her time of 1:15.76 in the 100M Freestyle was enough to place her a very respectable 11th overall, and was a personal best of over 16 seconds! Well done Emma!

Not to be outdone, her brother Daniel Hobbs took Silver in the U14 200M Breaststroke in a very fast time of 3:02.45, a personal best of over 6 seconds. Danny also competed in the 50M Freestyle, taking over a second and a half off his previous time for a new personal best of 29.87 to place 5th overall. Sarah Allen also was competing in the Under 14 age group and managed to outswim rivals for the top spot and Gold medal in the 100M Butterfly in a personal best time of 1:12.77. She added to this with a Silver medal win in the 100M Freestyle in a time of 1:05.03, taking almost a second and a half off her old time.

Stephen O'Shaughnessy was competing in the U16 age group and certainly did not disappoint with a very convincing 3rd place win in the 800M Freestyle event, taking the Bronze in an outstanding personal best time of 9:51.22, almost 19 seconds faster than his previous best. He also placed 4th overall in the 1500M Freestyle with a time of 19:46.79 and 5th in the 200M Freestyle in a personal best time of 2:21.23. He took over 3 and a half seconds off his 100M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 1:03.30 to place 11th and took over 3 seconds off his old time in the 50M Freestyle to place 11th overall in a time of 29.61.

Well done to all the swimmers on their success, and we wish them best of luck with preparations for the rest of the end of Season competitions. Go Dolphin!

The Dolphin Minnows Gala took place at Mayfield Sports Complex at the weekend, 17th & 18th May with Galway Swimming Club, New Ross, Waterford, Clonakility and the home team Dolphin taking part, with over 80 swimmers competing at various age levels. It was a resounding success for Dolphin at club level with over 40 swimmers from various PM and AM squads making a splash at this popular annual event, showcasing the up and coming talent with some exceptional swimming in the U9 and U10 age groups. In total the team came away with 12 Gold, 10 Silver and 18 Bronze Individual Medals as well as numerous medals of all three colours for the exciting relay events

Setting the bar high for the other age groupers were the Under 9's who had some exceptional performances over the 2 day meet. Making their competitive debut in this category were swimmers Andrew Treacy, and Alexander Black. Andrew placed 8th in the 50M Freestyle in a time of 1:03.00 and 8th in the 50M Backstroke in a time of 1:18.72. Alexander enjoyed success in his first meet with a Bronze medal in the final of the under 9 Breaststroke where he tied for third place with fellow Club Mate Ross Mc Auliffe in a time of 52.80. He also placed 7th in his 50M Freestyle in a fast time of 48.84.

Also swimming in the U9's were Sam Cunningham, Ronan Fahy, Ross Mc Auliffe, and Nathan Manson Browne. Sam gave a tremendous performance in his 50M Breaststroke knocking almost 6 seconds off his previous time for a new personal best of 1:13.43 and powered his way through the 50M Butterfly taking a further 8 seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 1:09.59. Sam also picked up a medal as part of the U9 200M Freestyle United Nations Relay team with one swimmer from Dolphin, New Ross, Waterford and Galway taking part.

Ronan had a spectacular meet with his best performance coming from the Under 10 100M IM where he shaved a huge 12 seconds off his previous best for a new personal best time of 1:51.85. He dominated the 50M Backstroke event and took Gold with a personal best of 50.63 having been achieved earlier in the heats. He also nabbed a Silver medal in the highly contested 50M Freestyle swim with a personal best of 42.00 achieved in the earlier heats. In a close 50M Butterfly final he narrowly missed out on the medals to take a very respectable 4th place in a new personal best of 1:02.69, a 4 second PB!

Ross Mc Auliffe showed great form in all his swims particularly in the 50M Backstroke, taking almost a second off his previous best in the heat with a time of 52.31 to make the final and take the Bronze medal. He went on to take the Bronze medal in the 50M Butterfly final, his first time competing in this event. He placed joint 3rd in the final of the 50M Breaststroke with an excellent 3 second PB of 58.72 in the heats.

In the Girls U9 age group were swimmers Ruth O'Neill, Lauren Graham, and Ally Cunningham. Ruth gave a great performance in her 50M Freestyle, taking an incredible 14 seconds off her previous best in the heat for a new personal best of 45.45 and went on to take the Bronze medal in the Final. She also made the Final of the 50M Breaststroke, having taken over 9 seconds off her old time in the heats for a new personal best of 1:01.93. She also took part in the Final of the 50M Butterfly, her first time swimming this event and completed it in a very respectable 1:14.44. Ruth also took over 8 seconds off in the Under 10's 100M IM time for a new personal best of 2:15.03.

Lauren was just outside the medals in the Final of the U9 50M Butterfly with a time of 1:06.43 which saw her take 4th place overall. She also had a PB in her 50M Breaststroke event, taking over 2 and a half seconds off her old time for a new best time of 1:10.84. Ally stormed home in the U9 Butterfly snapping up the Gold Medal in a 2 second PB of 52.00, qualifying her in this event for Grade B. She went on to take the Bronze medal in her 50M Breaststroke Final in 1:00.37.

In the Boys Under 10 age group were Swimmers Cian O'Connor, Conor King, Mark Auf Der Heyde, Ethan Keane, John O'Shaughnessy and Darren Twomey. Cian made his competitive debut and placed 7th in his 50M Freestyle in a time of 1:00.09 and 9th overall in his 50M Breaststroke in a time of 1:26.60. Conor King, also a first time competitor, recorded very fast times all round with his 43.85 in the 50M Freestyle securing him a place in the fast paced final where he took 5th overall.

Mark shaved over 4 seconds off his previous backstroke time for a new personal best of 47.82, bringing him closer to qualifying for Grade B in this event. He also took almost a second off his 100M IM time with a personal best of 1:53.69, and knocked over 2 seconds off his 100M Freestyle time as part of the Time Trial on the Sunday morning for a new personal best of 1:37.75.

Ethan pushed hard to take the Silver medal in the 50M Freestyle Final in a personal best of 38.44, taking almost 2 seconds off his old time. He took 5 seconds off his 50M Backstroke time for a new personal best of 45.63 in the heats and made the final where he placed 5th. He also placed 4th in the final of the 50M Butterfly in a time of 50.90, and 4th in the 100M IM Final in a personal best of 1:43.83.

John took the Bronze medal in the 50M Freestyle with a 2 second personal best time of 39.70, and went on to place 5th in the Final of the 50M Butterfly and 5th in the Final of the 100M IM, having taken over a second off his previous best to record a new personal best of 1:41.85 in the heats. John also placed 5th in the Final of the 50M Breaststroke in a time of 54.96. Though outside of the qualifying time for Final of the 50M Backstroke, his outstanding swim in the heats secured him a new personal best and B qualifying time of 45.08 - over a 2 second PB!

Darren secured the Silver medal in the Final of the 50M Backstroke in a personal best of 42.62 and went on to take silver in the Final of the 100M IM in a personal best of 1:34.22, knocking over 3 seconds off his old time. He also took silver in the hotly contested 50M Butterfly Final, knocking 4 seconds off his previous time for a new personal best of 42.69. His Bronze medal of the meet came from the Final of the 50M Breaststroke with a 2 second personal best time recorded in the heats of 49.28.

Competing in the U10 Girls Category were Meg Monaghan, Ruth Moynihan, Rebecca Murphy, Sinead Mills, Niamh Moloney, Laura Clifford, Tara Desmond, and Niamh Kelly. Meg had personal bests in both her events, the 50M Backstroke in a time of 58.38 and 50M Freestyle in a time of 55.19. Ruth competed for the first time and performed very well, with a 51.50 in her 50M Backstroke, 43.09 in her 50M Freestyle, 1:02.59 in her 50M Breaststroke and 2:01.22 in her 100M IM.

Rebecca had personal bests in every event in which she entered, her best performances came from the 50M Freestyle where she took 4 seconds off her previous time for a new personal best of 50.13 and her 50M Breaststroke where she also took 4 seconds off for a new personal best of 58.06. She took 3 and a half seconds off her 100M IM for a PB of 2:05.47, and took over 2 seconds off her 50M Backstroke time for a new PB of 57.77. Depsite being under the weather Sinead competed in the 50M Butterfly and 50M Freestyle events, her 2 second personal best of 42.44 in the heats of the 50M Freestyle securing her a place for the Final where she placed 5th overall.

Niamh Moloney had some strong swims at the meet, notably her 50M Breaststroke where she took the joint top spot and Gold medal in the Finals with a fast time of 50.00, qualifying her in this event for Grade B. She added to that with another medal win, this time in the 50M Freestyle where she took the Bronze medal in a time of 42.41. She took over 9 seconds off her 100M IM for a new personal best of 1:52.63, and competed in the 50M Butterfly event for the first time with a 57.01 time.

Laura powered home in the 50M Freestyle final in spite of stiff competition, taking the Gold in a new personal best time of 38.80, over 2 and a half seconds faster than her previous time and faster again that the time posted in the heats. She also made the Final of the 50M Butterfly placing 5th and her 7 second personal best of 48.41 in the 50M Backstroke heat assured her a place in the Final where she placed 5th overall. She also had a very strong swim in the 100M IM where she took over 8 seconds off her time for a 1:50.55 personal best.

Tara dominated her 50M Backstroke heat, her 44.84 time was over a second and a half faster than her previous best and secured her the fastest spot going into the Final where she scooped up the Gold medal for her efforts. She added to that with a Silver medal in the Final of the 50M Butterfly, her heat time of 45.12 being 3 seconds faster than her previous best. Her final medal of the meet, a Bronze, came from the Final of the 100M IM, her time of 1:38.44 was a 2 second personal best.

Niamh enjoyed several podium finishes, leading the way in the highly contested 50M Butterfly Final to take Gold in a 4 second personal best of 44.19 and adding to that with a further joint first place Gold medal win in the 50M Breaststroke in a personal best time of 50.00. Her Silver medal came from an excellant 100M IM where she knocked 6 and a half seconds off her time for a new personal best of 1:36.90.

In the Boys Under 11 age group were swimmers Neil O'Brien, Billy Mulcahy, Robert Twomey, Angus Gill and Ross Kavanagh. Neil swam well over the 2 day meet, his strongest performance coming from the 50M Freestyle where he recorded a new personal best time of 43.53. Billy pushed hard in the Final of the 50M Backstroke, his time of 46.03 was a personal best of almost 2 seconds and placed him 4th overall. He also made the final of the 50M Breaststroke where he placed 5th in a time of 51.50. His best swim of the meet came from the 100M IM where he took over 2 and a half seconds off his previous best for a new PB of 1:42.44.

Robert had a very strong 50M Butterfly heat where his time of 52.12 was a 4 and a half second personal best, giving him a place in the Final where he went on to take the Bronze medal in a time of 48.97, a further personal best of 3 seconds and a Grade B qualifying time. He added to that with a Bronze medal in the 50M Backstroke in a personal best time of 44.87. Swimming hard in the heats of the 100M IM, his time of 1:41.02 was a personal best of over 3 and a half seconds and gave him a place in the Final where he took 5th overall. He also secured a personal best in his 50M Freestyle heat in a time of 41.41, and went on to place 5th in the Final.

Angus had an incredible 50M Breaststroke heat, his time of 46.03 was almost a 4 second personal best and he was pipped at the death by fellow club mate Ross for the top spot and went on to take the Silver Medal in the 50M Breatstroke Final. He also gave a strong performance in his 50M Butterfly Final, his time of 51.60 was a personal best of almost 2 seconds securing him 4th place. His 40.06 time in the heats of the 50M Freestyle was a personal best of almost 2 seconds, placing him in the final where he took 4th place overall. Ross had a superb race in the 50M Breaststroke final, getting the touch for Gold in a personal best of 46.03 a PB of 3 seconds! He added to his medal haul with further Golds in the 100M IM, in a 4 second PB of 1:27.79 and in the 50M Backstroke with a 2 second personal best of 41.19.

In the Girls Under 11 age group were Abbie McNulty, Ciara Scanlon, Aoife O'Connell, Victoria Grace, Jessica Murphy, Yvonne Kelleher and Cliona O'Brien. Abbie swam well in the 50M Freestyle event, with a new personal best of 54.06. Ciara knocked over 4 seconds off her 100M Freestyle in the time trial for a new personal best of 1:36.52, and went on to take over 3 and a half seconds off her 50M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 42.31. She also had a personal best swim in the 50M Backstroke with a time of 52.47.

Aoife knocked 4 seconds off her old time in the 50M Breaststroke for a new personal best of 57.01, and went on to take over 9 seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:51.97. She also recorded personal bests in the 50M Freestyle of 43.94 and in the 50M Backstroke of 53.22. She also took on the 50M Butterfly for the firs time in a very respectable 1:01.40 time.

Victoria had personal bests in every event in which she entered, her best performance came from the 50M Backstroke event where she took almost 16 seconds off her old time for a new PB of 54.75. She took 8 seconds off her 100M IM time for a new PB of 1:55.19 and 2 seconds off her 50M Butterfly for a new PB of 1:00.41. She also took 2 seconds off her old 50M Breaststroke time for a new PB of 53.97, and over 2 and a half seconds off her time for the 50M Freestyle for a new PB of 44.00.

Jessica despite picking up a shoulder injury had a very successful meet, taking 7 seconds off her 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:57.10. She also swam strongly in her 50M Backstroke with a new 4 second PB of 52.68 and again a 2 second personal best in the 50M Breaststroke in a time of 56.50. Yvonne had some outstanding swims, particularly her 50M Butterfly heat time of 47.94 which was a personal best by over 6 and a half seconds and guaranteed her a spot in the Finals where she went on to take 4th place. Her time of 42.28 in the 50M Freestyle was also a personal best by almost a second.

Cliona O'Brien made her presence felt in the U11 events, her 100M IM heat time of 1:33.56 was a Grade B qualifying time and personal best by over 11 seconds and secured her a Finals place where she went on to win the Bronze medal. She also took Bronze in the Final of the 50M Butterfly, her time of 47.93 was a personal best by over 5 seconds and a Grade B qualifying time. She also knocked 3 seconds off her 50M Breaststroke time in the Final for a new personal best of 50.13, a Grade B qualifying time taking 4th place. She also made the Finals of the 50M Backstroke taking 4th place in a personal best of 45.82, a PB by over 6 seconds and a further Grade B qualifying time.

The Under 12 Boys were represented by Swimmers Adam Fahy, Rory O'Sullivan, Jack O'Brien, Jerry Clifford, and Colin O'Neil. Adam had a strong 50M Freestyle swim with a personal best time of 42.25. Rory took over a second and a half off his time for the 50M Butterfly for a new personal best of 51.02, qualifying him in this event for Grade B. He also took over a second and a half off his 50M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 44.60, and took over 4 seconds off his 100M IM time for a new personal best of 1:53.06.

Jack took over a second and a half off his 50M Butterfly time for a new personal best of 46.38, and went on to take 5th place in the Final. He also had a personal best in his 50M Freestyle heat of 39.41, giving him a place in the Final where he placed 5th. His 50M Backstroke heat time of 46.42 was a PB of over a second and a half and secured him a Finals spot where he took 4th place overall.

Jerry took over 5 seconds off his 50M Butterfly time with an outstanding performance in the Final giving him the Silver medal in a 40.78 time. He went on to win Bronze in the 50 Backstroke, his time of 42.97 in the heats giving him a 2 second PB and won another Bronze in the 50M Freestyle Final with a personal best of 35.72 recorded in the heats. He also made the Finals of the 100M IM where he placed 5th, his heat time of 1:32.44 was a personal best by over 2 and a half seconds.

Colin rocketed home in the Final of the 50M Backstroke taking the Gold medal, his heat time of 39.84 secured him a personal best of over 3 seconds. He went on to take Silver in the Final of the 100M IM, his time of 1:26.87 a Grade A qualifying time and personal best of over a second. His final medal of the meet was a Bronze in the Final of the 50 Breaststroke, his heat time of 45.51 was a personal best of almost 2 seconds.

Representing the U12 Girls were Megan Mc Auliffe and Jennifer Cosgrave. Megan took over a second off her 100M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 1:35.19, and deserved every praise for completing the time trial dispite picking up an injury during the swim. She also had a personal best time in her 50M Breaststroke, taking almost a second off her old time for a new PB of 53.91.

Jennifer had an exceptional race in the Final of the 50M Butterfly, taking over a second and a half off her old time for a new personal best of 43.44 and the Gold medal. She knocked almost 5 seconds off her time in the heats of the 50M Freestyle for a new personal best of 37.01 but an unfortunate misadventure with goggles on the dive saw her take 5th in the Final. She came back to win Bronze in the 50M Backstroke however, with a personal best of 38.80 taking over 2 and a half seconds off her old time.

Congratulations go to Swimmers Ally Cunningham and John O'Shaughnessy for making their Grade B time for the 100M Freestyle while taking part in Sundays Mornings Mixed Open 100M Freestyle Time Trial. Ally took 3 seconds off her previous best to record a B time and new Personal best of 1:30.35. John took an incredible 7 seconds off his previous time for a B time and new personal best of 1:25.87.

Congratulations go also to Cliona O'Brien who was well inside the B qualifying time with a terrifc swim in the 100M IM event, recording a 1:33.56 time which was over 11 seconds faster than her previous best! She also made Grade B qualifying times in her 50M Butterfly, 50M Breaststroke, and 50M Backstroke events at the Minnows meet. We wish these swimmers the very best of luck at the Grade B Gala in Mayfield on the 8th June and every success in their future competitions.

A very special thank you goes to all the coaches, parents, and supporters who without their tireless contributions to timekeeping, officialling, stroke judging, team managing and marshalling the gala would not have been such a success. We would like to mention especially parents who generously supported our shop by contributing sweets, cakes and other goodies to help feed the hungry Hordes, and also to those who helped run the shop so successfully over the weekend - namely Karen Kelly, Caitlin Desmond, and Ellen O'Brien.

Again well done to all our swimmers on their achievements and we look forward to seeing them all do very well in the near future. Go Dolphin!

The Munster Age Groups took place at the University of Limerick Sports Arena at the weekend, with yet again the cream of Munsters crop taking part in the two day gala, making it as usual a highly competitive and entertaining event for spectators and swimmers alike. In what was undoubtably the club performance of the Season, Dolphin swept the boards with 20 Individual Gold Medals, 15 Individual Silver Medals and 14 Individual Bronze Medals as well as outstanding season best performances across all the age categories and several short course club records were broken.

Amy Cunningham, Ross Kavanagh and Thomas Treacy were the youngest of the Dolphin Swimmers at the meet all swimming in the 11-12 Age Category, and certainly did not let that phase them in any way. Amy was outstanding in her swims, knocking almost 14 seconds off her 400M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 6:29.71 placing her 9th overall. She took almost 4 seconds off her 200M IM time for a new PB of 3:10.45 and almost over a second off her 100M Backstroke time to place 10th overall in a personal best of 1:29.35. She also placed 10th in her 100M Freestyle in a personal best time of 1:16.87, knocking almost a second and a half off her previous best.

Ross Kavanagh took on the challenge of the 400M Freestyle for the first time with a very respectable 5:57.35 time which saw him take the 7th place overall in the age group, and went on to have a very successful meet that saw him knock over 5 seconds off his previous best for his 100M Backstroke, over 3 seconds off his 100M Breastroke and over 12 seconds off his 200M Freestyle time to record a 2:43.75 to place 10th overall in this event. Thomas Treacy made his presence felt in the age group, taking the silver medal in the 100M Butterfly in a personal best of 1:28.44, a 6 second PB! He added to his medal haul with a Bronze in the 100M Breaststroke, having recorded a personal best of 1:31.94 in the heat and a Bronze in the 200M IM in a time of 3:01.73. He also placed just outside the medals in the 400M Freestyle with an excellent swim of 5:43.80, placing him 4th overall in the age group.

Emma Hobbs, Colin O'Neil, Patrick Daly all had exceptional races in their 11-12 age group with Emma taking the Gold in the 100M Breaststroke in a personal best time of 1:26.34, taking over a second off her previous time. She added to that with another Podium finish, this time a Bronze in the 200M Freestyle taking over 5 seconds off her previous time for a new personal best of 2:42.66. She placed just outside the medals in the 400M Freestyle to take 4th overall in a time of 5:39.20, shaving an incredible 58 seconds off her previous time and went on to take 4th overall in the 200M IM in a personal best of 3:03.19, over 3 seconds faster than her previous best.

Colin swam well in all his events, most notably his 100M Breaststroke where he took over 6 seconds off his previous time for a new PB of 1:39.58 and went on to qualify for the Final where he placed 8th overall. He also swam strongly in his 200M IM event, placing 10th in a time of 3:11.81. Patrick enjoyed success in his 200M IM, knocking almost 2 seconds off for a new PB of 2:51.52 which secured him the top spot and Gold medal. He went on to take top spot and Gold again in the 100M Breaststroke in a 1:29.65, having attained a new PB of 1:29.38 in the heat. He claimed Silver in the 100M Backstroke in a tremendous personal best of 1:20.71, taking over 12 seconds off his old time and won a further Silver in the 100M Freestyle in a personal best of 1:08.92, a 4 second PB. His final medal of the championship came from the 200M Freestyle swim, where he took Bronze in a time of 2:32.94, knocking over 8 seconds off his previous best.

In the U13 age group Grace O'Doherty, Louise Coleman, Caitlin Desmond, and Darren O'Dowling all swam incredibly well, with Grace recording personal best times for every event entered. She had some very strong performances, notably her 100M Butterfly where she took over 11 seconds off her old time for a new personal best of 1:40.70. She took almost 7 seconds off her 400M Freestyle to place 5th overall in a personal best time of 5:47.47. She also had a powerful swim in her 200M Freestyle, taking over 5 seconds off her previous best to place 6th overall in a time of 2:41.49. Louise made the final of the 100M Breastroke with a superb personal best swim of 1:32.88 placing her 5th overall. She also placed strongly in the 200M IM with a time of 3:04.85, placing her 6th. She took over 8 seconds off her 200M Freestyle time to record a new PB of 2:50.29, placing her 12th overall.

Caitlin was another swimmer who recorded personal best times in the bulk of her events. She took the Bronze medal for the 400M Freestyle in a 15 second PB of 5:29.37, and placed just outside the medals in 4th place overall in the 200IM in a time of 2:58.86, and in the 200M Freestyle in a 4 second PB of 2:35.00. She also made the final of the 100M Butterfly, knocking 8 seconds off her previous best to place 4th in a time of 1:21.67. She also made the final of the 100M Freestyle placing 5th in a personal best time of 1:13.08, and the final of the 100M Breaststroke in a 2 second personal best time of 1:36.94 to place 7th.

Darren O'Dowling however was peerless in his events, capturing no less than 6 Gold medals for his efforts at the meet. He took almost 6 seconds off his 100M Backstroke time for a new PB of 1:10.72, and went on to take 3 and a half seconds off his 200M IM time for Gold in a 2:37.00. He also recorded a new personal best time of 1:15.65 in the 100M Butterfly and took over 6 seconds off his 100M Breaststroke time for a new personal best of 1:26.11. In his Distance events, he took Gold in the 200M Freestyle in a 4 second PB of 2:15.11 and over 5 seconds off his previous best in the 400M Freestyle for a new personal best time of 4:51.67.

Laura Desmond, Sarah Hickey, Shaun Hennessy, Tadgh Arrigan, Alex McNulty, Daniel Hobbs, Cian Mulcahy, Tim Daly, Sarah Clifford, and Sarah Allen all took part in the U14 age group events. Laura placed 10th in her 400M Freestyle, taking over 10 seconds off her previous time for a new personal best of 6:09.17. She also had a strong swim in her 200M IM event placing 17th in an 11 second personal best time of 3:13.19. Sarah Hickey took over 3 seconds off her previous best in the 200M Freestyle event to place 11th in a time of 2:38.55. She also swam well in the 200M IM with a 12th overall place and time of 3:01.80. Shaun Hennessy gave a fantastic performance in the 400M Freestyle event, knocking an incredible 35 seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 5:39.38, placing him 13th overall.

Tadgh took 32 seconds off his 400M Freestyle for a new personal best of 5:39.27 placing him 12th overall. He then went on to take over 10 seconds off his 200M Freestyle time for a new Personal best of 2:28.78, again placing him 12th overall. Taking over 5 seconds off his previous best, he stormed home in the 100M Backstroke final to place 7th in a new PB of 1:19.27 and followed that up with another grand performance in the 100M Butterfly final, taking 10 seconds off his old time for a 6th place finish and new personal best time of 1:20.88. Alex placed 5th in the 400M Freestyle in a time of 5:06.22. He swam strongly in his 200M Freetyle event to take 7th in a personal best time of 2:23.90, and took 7th again in the final of the 100M Butterfly in a personal best time of 1:24.77, taking over 4 seconds off his previous best.

Danny Hobbs swam into the medals with a commanding performance in the 400M Freestyle where he took the Silver medal in an 8 second personal best time of 4:35.82. He added to that with another Silver medal win in the 200M Freestyle, taking over 4 seconds off his old time for a new personal best of 2:10.19. He was just outside a podium finish in the 100M Freestyle, he finished 4th in the Final in a personal best of 1:01.91, and 4th again in the final of the 100M Breaststroke in a personal best of 1:22.06. He also had a 4th overall placing in the 200M IM in a personal best of 2:37.76 and placed 5th in the final of the 100M Butterfly in a personal best of 1:19.61, taking over 4 seconds off his previous best in the heat to record a PB of 1:19.10.

Cian Mulcahy was very successful in both the Butterfly and the Backstroke events, taking a Bronze medal for his efforts in both. After recording a new personal best time of 1:10.15 in the heat of the 100M Butterfly he went on to place 3rd in the fast paced final which saw him again place under his seed time. In the 100M Backstroke event, he took over 2 seconds off his previous best for a new PB of 1:11.85. Cian also had a strong swim in his 100M Freestyle event, taking almost half a second off his previous best to place 7th in the final in a new personal best time of 1:04.62. Having taken almost 3 seconds off his 200M Freestyle time, he placed 9th in a new personal best of 2:25.68.

Tim Daly dominated the 100M Butterfly event, taking over a second and a half off his previous best for the Gold Medal in a new PB of 1:09.04. He also captured Gold in the 200M IM with a 2 second personal best of 2:26.60. He went on to take Silver in the 100M Backstroke final in a personal best time of 1:07.89 taking over a second off his old time, Silver in the 100M Freestyle final in a 2 second personal best time of 59.70, and silver in the 100M Breaststroke final in a personal best of 1:14.83. He also placed 5th in the 200M Freestyle in a time of 2:15.13, knocking 13 seconds off his old time.

Sarah Clifford powered home in the 400M Freestyle to take the Bronze medal in a new personal best time of 4:54.16, taking over 14 seconds off her previous time. She then went on to take another Bronze in the 100M Backstroke in a 2 second personal best of 1:14.30, and a Bronze in the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:11.17. She went one better in the 200M Freestyle event, taking the Silver medal in a time of 2:24.09. She also made the final of the 100M Freestyle and the 100M Breaststroke placing 6th in both events.

Sarah Allen took the Silver medal in the 100M Butterfly final in a time of 1:10.56, and went on to take Bronze in the 100M Freestyle in a time of 1:03.61, knocking over a second off her old time. After recording a personal best of 1:14.77 in the heats of the 100M Backstroke, she went on to place 4th overall in the final of the same event. She also placed 4th in the final of the 100M Breaststroke in a 5 second PB of 1:27.42, and 4th overall in the 400M Freestyle in a 4 second personal best of 5:05.11.

The U15 age group saw Aoibheann Murphy, Catherine Noonan, Alysha Hoare, Jamie O'Donovan Russell, Ryan O'Dowling, Tim o'Callaghan, and Susan Callanan all competing for the top spots. Aoibheann made the final of the 100M Backstroke where she placed 8th in a time of 1:22.71. Catherine placed 10th in the 200M IM in a time of 3:03.51 and 11th in the 200M Freestyle in a time of 2:40.66.

Alysha made the final of the 100M Breaststroke where her strong swimming placed her 7th overall in a time of 1:30.73. She took over 4 seconds off her 200M IM time to place 11th in a new personal best of 3:04.28, and over 4 seconds off her 200M Freestyle time to place 12th in a time of 2:49.67. Jamie placed well in his 200M IM event in a time of 3:07.43, and took almost a second and a half off his 200M Freestyle for a new personal best of 2:41.41.

Ryan O'Dowling knocked 6 seconds off his 400M Freestyle time for a new personal best of 4:51.67 giving him 4th place overall. He made the final of the 100M Breaststroke taking over a second off his old time for a new PB of 1:22.65 placing him 7th. He also took over 5 seconds off his 200M Freestyle time to place 6th in a time of 2:16.02 and in the 200M IM event he placed 8th in a 2 second personal best of 2:34.41.

Tim took 5 seconds off his 400M Freestyle for a new personal best of 4:38.93 which afforded him the Silver medal in the event. He then went on to take Bronze in the final of the 100M Backstroke in a personal best of 1:10.55, taking almost 2 seconds off his previous time. He was just outside of the medals in the 200M Freestyle with his 2 second personal best swim of 2:12.94 which placed him 4th overall. He also had a tremendous swim in the 100M Butterfly heat with a PB of over 11 seconds, his time of 1:11.52 was only just outside of the qualification for the finals in this event.

Susan was clearly on form and completely dominated her age group, taking Gold for all 5 events in which she entered. Her excellent performance in the 100M Freestyle heat saw her break the minute mark in a personal best of 59.87, and she went on to beat this in the final with a 59.49 time. Her 200M Freestyle time saw her take over 3 seconds off her old best to record a 2:11.20. She also recorded personal bests in the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:10.27, the 100M Butterfly in a time of 1:06.79, and the 100M Breaststroke in a time of 1:20.94.

In the U16 age group Ross McNulty, Alex Rathke, Simon Treacy battled it out against the best in Munster and certainly held their own. Ross narrowly missed out on the Bronze in the final of the 100M Backstroke event, taking 4th in a time of 1:10.99. He had an outstanding swim in his 400M Freestyle which saw him shave 55 seconds off his previous best for a new time of 5:02.64 placing him 7th overall.

Alex scooped up the Silver medal for his 100M Backstroke final with a personal best time of 1:06.82, over a second faster than his previous time. He also went on to win a Bronze medal in the 200M Freestyle with a 3 second personal best time of 2:05.56. He took over 3 seconds off his time in the 100M Butterfly to place 5th in the Final in a new PB of 1:06.13. Making it to the final of the 100M Freestyle he placed 5th in a time of 58.18.

Simon took Gold in all 4 of his events, with a personal best of 55.03 in his 100M Freestyle taking almost 2 seconds off his old time. He took the top spot in the 100M Breaststroke in a pb of almost a second, a 1:10.90 time and went on to drop over a second off his 100M Butterfly time for a new personal best of 1:00.37. Taking almost half a second off his old time, he took the touch in the 200M IM in a new personal best time of 2:18.67.

In the Senior Age Category 17-18 group were swimmers Kieran Donovan and Stephanie Allen. Kieran took Bronze in the 100M Backstroke final in a 2 second personal best of 1:07.86. He placed just outside of the medals with a 4th overall placing in the 400M Freestyle, where his time of 4:28.35 was almost a 6 and a half second PB! He also placed 5th in the final of the 100M Butterfly in a 2 second PB of 1:06.12. Stephanie took Silver in the 100M Backstroke in a time of 1:12.14, and went on to take Silver in the 100M Butterfly in a personal best time of 1:11.56 and Silver in the 200M Freestyle event in a time of 2:21.52.

Well done to all swimmers and coaches on their hard work and dedication, they are now reaping the rewards. Congratulations to swimmers who made their Division times from the meet, we look forward to their continued success and wish them all the best for the coming weeks. Go Dolphin!

12 Dolphin Swimmers had a very successful competition at the Grade A Distance Meet in St. Enda's in Limerick on Saturday 19th April. In spite of being in the middle of preparations for the Munster Age Groups, the Swimmers and Coaches took time out to attend the competition that saw 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze Medals being won as well as numerous personal best times being recorded.

In the U11 Girls Age Group and the youngest of the Dolphin swimmers competing, Amy Cunningham placed just outside of a podium finish in the 200M IM taking 4th overall in a time of 3:15.60. She also took part in the 400M Freestyle race, her first time competing at this distance coming home in a very respectable 4th place finish and time of 6:15.74.

In the U13 Boys Age Group, Patrick Daly had an outstanding performance in his 200M IM, scooping the Gold Medal and highest ranking in a time of 2:53.47 giving him a PB of over 1 second. He added to his medal tally with a fine 400M Freestyle swim, knocking over 9 seconds off his previous time to take the Bronze medal in a time of 5:21.22.

In the U13 Girls Age Group, Caitlin Desmond rocketed home in her 200M IM to shave 5 seconds off her previous best to take the Silver medal in a time of 2:56.26. She narrowly missed out on 3rd place in the 400M Freestyle event, with an outstanding swim which saw her taking almost 28 seconds off her seed time to take 4th overall in a time of 5:44.50. Louise Coleman, at her first Grade A distance event, swam strongly in her 200M IM event, taking 6th overall in a time of 3:03.15 and 9th overall in the 400M Freestyle in a time of 5:56.47. Grace O'Doherty had an excellent meet which saw her taking strides forward in her times in both her events. Taking an astounding 36 seconds off her old time, she powered home to take 8th place overall in the 400M Freestyle in a time of 5:54.40. She added to this with another fine performance in her 200M IM, again with a 16 second PB of 3:17.86 and a 12th place overall.

In the Boys U15 Age Group, Alex McNulty took on the challenge of the 800M Freestyle, and succeeded in shaving an enormous 29 seconds off his previous best to take the Bronze medal in a time of 10:31.99. He also had an excellent 400M Freestyle event, placing 5th overall with a 4 second PB of 5:05.49. Tim O'Callaghan and Stephen O'Shaughnessy both braved the daunting 1500M Freestyle swim, with Stephen showing prowess at this distance with a 17 second personal best of 18:26.03 giving him the Silver medal. Tim recorded a fast 19:06.54 swim, his first time competing at this distance and took the Bronze Medal. Stephen also had success in the 800M Freestyle event, recording another personal best, this time a 25 second PB of 9:47.07 again gaining him the Silver medal. He was just outside of a podium finish on the 400M Freestyle, settling for a very respectable 4th place finish overall in a time of 4:52.56. Jamie O'Donovan Russell had a strong swim in his 200M IM event, taking over 2 and a half seconds off his previous time to finish in a 3:06.17.

In the Girls U15 Age Group, Julie Flood knocked over 8 seconds off her old time in the 200M IM, finishing in a 3:14.80. She also had an excellent time for her first 400M Freestyle swim, 6:13.17. Sarah Hickey took almost 5 seconds off her time for the 200M IM, with a 3:01.70 time which saw her take 9th overall in her age group. Catherine Noonan performed well in both her 200Im and 400 Freestyle, taking 12th and 11th place respectively.

Well done to all swimmers and coaches involved, and we look forward to seeing the swimmers in action at Munster Age Groups. Go Dolphin!

A 39 Strong Squad of Dolphin Swimmers took on the 'Small Frys' from the top Leinster and Munster Clubs recently at the Wexford Small Fry gala in Ferrybank, Wexford on the 6th April. Ranging in ages from 7 to 12 years the Swimmers, parents, and Coach Paddy Power travelled by bus in the early hours to take in session one and two of a 3 session meet. Despite the early Start, and very long day the club swimmers returned victorious yet again after winning 2 Individual Gold Medals, 3 Silver Medals and 8 Bronze medals as well as numerous Relay Medals. Added to that were the top notch performances of the swimmers who pushed themselves to achieve fantastic personal best times.

In the Boys Under 9 age Group were Sam Cunningham, Ross Mc Auliffe, and Ronan Fahy. Sam who attended his first gala swam very well in all 3 events in which he was entered, especially his 50M Butterfly where he placed 6th overall in his age group in a time of 1:18.33. Ross impressed greatly with his strong performances, notably his 50M Breaststroke where he took over 3 seconds off his previous best to make the Final in a time of 1:02.65, and then went on to take a very respectable 4th place finish with another personal best time of 1:01.71, and his 50M Backstroke where he took almost 4 seconds off his previous best in the Heat to make the Final and win the Bronze medal in a further PB of 53.28, over 3 seconds faster than his heat time. Ronan featured strongly in the 50M Butterfly Final where he placed 4th in a personal best of 1:06.07, a pb of almost 2 seconds! He also swam well in his 50M Backstroke and 50M Breastroke events, placing 6th and 7th respectively.

In the Girls Under 9 age group were Ally Cunningham, Jessica Farrelly, Lauren Graham, Fiona Richardson and Mary Richardson. Ally had a very successful meet, which saw her make all 3 Finals! She took almost 3 seconds off her previous time in her 50M Breaststroke in a 59.09 to make the final, where she took 5th place overall. In the 50M Butterfly event, she took almost 2 seconds off her entry time to make the fastest qualifier for the final in a time of 54.68 which saw her take the Gold medal. In the 50M Backstroke, She took the Bronze medal in a time of 48.69.

Jessica had a strong performance in both her 50M Butterfly which saw her take 9th place overall in a time of 1:09.64 and her 50M Backstroke, where she took over 2 and a half seconds off her previous best to finish in a time of 58.32 for 12th. Lauren had a powerful 50M Butterfly performance which saw her make the Final in a time of 1:05.67, and take 4th place overall. Fiona Richardson recorded personal best times in her 50M Breastroke and 50M Backstroke, taking almost a second off her Breaststroke time to finish in 1:10.20 and over 2 seconds off her Backstroke time to finish in 56.41. Her sister Mary showed her skills at the 50M Breaststroke swim, taking over 3 and a half seconds off her time to finish in 1:09.44.

Swimming in the Under 10 Boys age group were Mark Auf Der Heyde, Ethan Keane, John O'Shaughnessy and Darren Twomey. Mark swam well in his 50M Butterfly event, taking over 1 and a half seconds off his previous PB in a time of 1:03.67 to place him in the Finals where he took 4th place overall. Ethan showed his skills in the 50M Breaststroke, taking the Silver medal in the Final in a time of 53.04. He also took Bronze in the Final of the 50M Butterfly event, having recorded a personal best time in the heat of 50.59. He went on to take over 2 seconds off his old time in the 50M Backstroke to finish 5th in a time of 51.56.

John gave a strong performance in his all of events, recording personal bests in his 50M Butterfly Heat in a time of 53.54, and his 50M Backstroke Heat in a time of 47.49, where he went on to place 4th overall in this event in the Final. He also made the final of the 50M Breaststroke where he took 4th in a time of 54.48. Darren had a strong showing in all 3 events, taking over 2 seconds off his 50M Butterfly in the Heat to record a person best of 46.69 and went on to take the Silver medal in this event in the Finals. He also made the Final of the 50m Breaststroke where he took the Bronze medal in a time of 53.94, and went on to take the Bronze in the Final of the 50M Backstroke in a time of 47.93.

In the Girls Under 10 age group were swimmers Laura Clifford, Tara Desmond, Niamh Kelly, Sinead Mills, Rebecca Murphy, Amy Hennessy, Meg Monaghan and Lauren Cummins. Laura recorded a personal best time for each event entered, with over 5 seconds being taken off her 50M Butterfly for a new personal best time of 53.97 which placed her 6th overall. She also took over 2 seconds off her backstroke time for a new PB o