The young swimmers of Castlebar Swimming Club had a very successful outing to Claremorris recently, with plenty of ‘A' times and personal bests (PBs) recorded, and a host of medals winging their way back home with the swimmers.

In the girls' 11&U 100m backstroke, there were good times from Megan Deely (1:32.95), Rachel Henehan (1:40.07) and Sarah Conlon (1:43.65), while in the 13&U age group Aoife Donohoe just missed out on a podium finish with 1:32.35, and Johanna McDonagh recorded 1:45.42. Swimming 15&U, Kianna Higgins scooped gold with a time of 1:31.03, while Louise Mongan followed up with silver on 1:33.37.

For the 11&U boys, Cian Donohoe finished third with a time of 1:36.88, while there were good swims also from Rory Grady (1:46.01), Pierce Dunne (1:46.34), Tommy Huang (1:50.85), Sam Rennick (1:54.60) and Ciaran Mylett (1:57.16). Swimming 13&U, Conor Mongan achieved a time of 1:35.06.

In the boys' 11&U breaststroke, there were good times from Ciaran Mylett (1:55.02), Tommy Huang (1:55.87), Cian Donohoe (1:56.30), Conall Lynch (1:57.34), Rory Grady (2:01.79) and Sam Rennick (2:11.07). In the 13&U age group, Conor Mongan took bronze with a time of 1:45.02. For the girls 11&U 100m breaststroke, there were some great times from Fiona Conway (1:50.16), Megan Deely (1:51.60), Rachel Henehan (1:56.88), Brianne Horan (2:01.28), Sarah Conlon (2:11.35).

In the 13&U age group, Johanna McDonagh finished in 1:45.97 while Aoife Donohoe recorded 1:51.58. There were more medals in the 15&U age group with gold going to Meaghan Coen (1:43.84), silver to Kianna Higgins (1:45.66) and bronze to Sarah Burke (1:46.27). Louise Mongan followed with 1:53.11. The 200m freestyle was the final individual event of the day, and there were further good times recorded by all the swimmers, while the relay teams did exceptionally well and won a score of medals.

Kianna Higgins, Meaghan Coen and Sarah Burke.

Rachel Henehan, Brianne Horan, Fiona Conway and Megan Deely)

Louise Mongan.

Pierce Dunne and Rory Grady.

L TO R) Conall Lynch, Pierce Dunne and Conor Mongan.

Meanwhile, a second day of competition for the B&C swimmers in Ballina at the end of March, also proved enjoyable with some great results. In the 100m freestyle, there was a bronze medal and a good ‘B' time for Cian Donohoe (1:24.66), while Sam Rennick scooped silver in the ‘C' category with a time of 1:32.32. Also swimming well were Tommy Huang (1:31.75), Pierce Dunne (1:34.16), Conall Lynch (1:35.69) and Rory Grady (1:38.69). In the girls' event, there were ‘A' times for Fiona Conway (1:17.63) and Megan Deely (1:21.44), and a gold medal for Rachel Henehan in the ‘C' category with a time of 1:32.21. There were further good times recorded by Sarah Conlon (1:42.82) and Brianne Horan (1:39.57).

James English came second in the ‘C' category in his age group with a time of 1:25.13, while in the girls' U13 event, Aoife Donohoe and Johanna McDonagh swam well with times of 1:19.56 and 1:24.06 respectively. There were medals also for Matthew Moran (bronze in his age group ‘B' category with a time of 1:18.28) and Meaghan Coen (silver with a time of 1:16.97).

In the butterfly event, the younger boys swam 50m with Cian Donohoe gaining gold in the ‘B' category (44.56), Sam Rennick gaining gold in the ‘C' group (54.90) and Rory Grady taking bronze in the ‘C' group (55.07). Also recording good times were Tommy Huang (46.78) and Pierce Dunne (51.97). In the U13 100m, Jonathan Monroe took bronze in the ‘B' group with a time of 1:42.69.

For the girls' U11 50m fly, Fiona Conway gained an ‘A' time of 43.59, and Caitriona McCormack took bronze in the ‘B' group with a time of 48.31. At U13 level, Aoife Donohoe swam the 100m in 1:41.19, taking silver in the ‘B' group, and in the U15s, Meaghan Coen took silver in the ‘B' group with a time of 1:37.64.

In the boys' U11 individual medley (IM), Cian Donohoe took silver with a ‘B' time of 1:37.75, and Rory Grady took bronze with a ‘C' time of 1:47.91 with good times also from Tommy Huang (1:42.83), Sam Rennick (1:48.63) and Conall Lynch (1:56.00).

For the girls, Fiona Conway and Megan Deely recorded ‘A' times of 1:34.53 and 1:34.00 respectively, while Rachel Henehan took bronze with a ‘C' time of 1:45.38. There were further good swims from Sarah Conlon (1:55.47) and Caitriona McCormack (1:53.60). In the U13 200m IM, Aoife Donohoe took gold with a ‘B' time of 3:22.75 and Johanna McDonagh recorded a time of 3:31.28. Meanwhile, Meaghan Coen achieved an ‘A' time of 3:08.72 in the U15 age group.

There were good relay results also, with two silvers for the Castlebar U11 boys and U13 boys, and two bronze medals for the U11 girls and U13 girls. All in all, two great days out for the hardworking swimmers, and as always, much credit goes to their dedicated coaches and to the parents who helped out with both galas.