Strong performances from Castlebar swimmers at Division 1 Championships.

The Division 1 swimmers pictured with their coaches (back row left to right): Coach Joe Moran, Eoghan Grady, Cillian Melly, Jamie Murphy, Patrick Livingstone, Ambre Fadden, Sinead Mylett, Aisling Grady, Caoimhe Hennigan and Paula McDonagh. Front row (left to right): Conor Melly, Siofra Horan, Laura Fahy, Nicola Connolly, Edel Egan, Niamh Heneghan, Mark Dervan and Coach Marian English.

The Division 1 swimmers pictured with their coaches (back row left to right): Coach Joe Moran, Eoghan Grady, Cillian Melly, Jamie Murphy, Patrick Livingstone, Ambre Fadden, Sinead Mylett, Aisling Grady, Caoimhe Hennigan and Paula McDonagh. Front row (left to right): Conor Melly, Siofra Horan, Laura Fahy, Nicola Connolly, Edel Egan, Niamh Heneghan, Mark Dervan and Coach Marian English.

Castlebar Swimming Club had some excellent performances at the recent Irish Age Group Championships, or Division 1 as they are more commonly known. Held at the University Arena in Limerick this year, making a change of scene from the more customary venue at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin, the event featured hundreds of swimmers from all over the country, and marked the final gala of the season for many swimmers present.

Castlebar's Mark Dervan gained a stunning 32-second personal best (PB) in the 400m freestyle with a time of 5:15.55. This event was also to prove a good one for Conor Melly who gained a 25-second PB with a time of 5:13.88. Eoghan Grady's PB of 4:14.94 was impressive enough to bring him a gold - also in the 400m freestyle - while Cillian Melly and Patrick Livingstone recorded PBs of 4:37.04 and 4:46.99 respectively.

Completing his hat-trick of golds over the three-day event, Eoghan Grady had two more personal bests in the 1500m freestyle with a time of 16:52.07 and the 200m freestyle with a time of 2:00.69. He also took two bronze medals in the 200m individual medley and the 400m IM. This was quite the impressive performance given that the 15-year-old had only recently completed his junior cert exams while still managing to keep up with the intensity of swim training.

Mark Dervan had a great few days of competition, taking two silvers in the 200m breaststroke with an impressive 14-second PB of 2:51.77 - gaining his first Connacht squad time in the process - and in the 100m breaststroke with a 4-second PB of 1:19.83. Mark also reached the final of the 200IM and just narrowly missed out on a podium finish with another impressive PB of 2:39.54.

Patrick Livingstone also took two silvers in the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:44.07 and the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:15.29, while Cillian Melly took bronze in the 200m fly with a time of 2:27.04. Conor Melly gained a second PB of 2:31.43 in the 200m freestyle.

For the girls, Sinead Mylett continued the winning streak she has been on - taking gold in the 100m freestyle, three silvers in the 200m butterfly, the 200m backstroke and the 200m freestyle, and two bronze medals - in the 200m individual medley and the 400m freestyle.

There were strong performances also from Edel Egan, who swam the 800m freestyle in 10:36.91 to gain a PB, and took another PB in the 400m freestyle with a time of 5:11.52. Siofra Horan and Paula McDonagh both did well in the 800m freestyle, with times of 10:34.50 and 10:35.82 respectively. Caoimhe Hennigan gained a massive 31 second PB in the same event with a time of 10:37.24. Laura Fahy swam well in the 200IM and gained a PB with a time of 2:49.78, while Ambre Fadden and Aisling Grady took PBs in the same event with their respective times of 2:42.59 and 2:43.14.

Jamie Murphy, who had earned his Division 1 qualifying times just two weeks beforehand at the Division 2 championships, swam well enough in the 100m and 200m breaststroke to qualify for finals in both, where he continued to improve his previous times. Niamh Heneghan, another Division 2 qualifier, had two fine swims in the 100m backstroke with a time of 1:15.10 and the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:42.79. Nicola Connolly, also having qualified at Division 2, swam the 400m freestyle in 5:33.55. There were more PBs for Caoimhe Hennigan, Aisling Grady, Paula McDonagh and Laura Fahy in the 400m freestyle, and an impressive 12-second PB for Siofra Horan in the 200m breaststroke.