Dec 14 Swim Team News
Castleknock Swim Team: Summer Successes and Winter Season Updates
In a momentous month for Irish Swimming, following Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen claiming the world record in the 800 freestyle, members of the Castleknock College Swim Team are competing with the top swimmers in Ireland at the 2023 Irish National Winter Championships which take place in the National Aquatic Centre from the 14th to 17th of December. This is the culmination of the busy Winter Short Course swimming season which runs from September to December inclusive.
But first, an update on the summer Long Course competitions which took place during the summer holidays. This year, Swim Ireland decided to amalgamate Divisions 1 and 2, and divide the summer competitions between Limerick and the NAC, based on age.
Competitors aged 12 to 14 competed in Limerick in the Irish Age Group Summer Nationals, and Castleknock College had three swimmers compete, Cameron Jackson, Sam McNaughton, and current first year, Ryan Morgan, who were all representing Coolmine Swim Club.
Competitors aged 15 years and older, competed in the National Aquatic Centre in the Irish Youth and Senior Summer Nationals, and Castleknock College had six swimmers compete, representing Coolmine Swim Club and the NAC Swim Club. Danny Morgan, (Class of 2023), Darragh Morgan, Killian O’Loughlin Brophy and Ali Rayan were representing Coolmine SC and Ryan McGinley and Matthew Turner were representing NAC SC.
These swimmers were very successful at both these summer meets, especially considering most were recovering from either illness or injuries. There were numerous PB’s, many finals, exciting relays and quite a medals and national titles. More of this below!
After a short break for August, training began again in early September and three of our swimmers have been re-selected for the Swim Ireland Project 28 coaching group (P28), based in the National Hub, Dublin. The P28 coaching group is dedicated to resourcing the nation’s best and brightest athletes as they work towards success at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 2028. The group currently has 15 Full-Time athletes, who train six days a week with a total of nine weekly sessions, and they have been hard at work since the start of this season. Congratulations to Darragh Morgan, Killian O’Loughlin Brophy and Ali Rayan for their re-selection for the 2023/24 season. Congratulations also to Danny Morgan who on completion of his secondary school education, has graduated from the P28 coaching group and qualified to train as part of the Swim Ireland National Centre Dublin Squad, based in the National Hub. And finally, congratulations to Cameron Jackson, who has joined his Castleknock College, and Coolmine SC teammates, for a trial period with the P28 programme, and is relishing the challenge of the extra training.
Summer Results
Irish Age Group Summer Nationals, Limerick
Castleknock College had three swimmers who qualified for and swam at these championships:
Cameron Jackson swam in six individual events and two relays, making five finals over the competition.
Sam McNaughten swam in seven individual events and two relays and achieved a number of impressive personal bests.
First year Ryan Morgan swam in six individual events and made four finals in his first year eligible for Summer Nationals.
Irish Youth and Senior Summer Nationals, NAC
Castleknock College had six swimmers who qualified for and swam at these championships:
Ryan McGinley swam in six individual events, making three finals and winning a Bronze Medal as part of the NAC Relay Team in the 4 x 100m Medley relay.
Danny Morgan, swimming in the Senior age category for the first time, qualified for the finals of the 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle and the 200 Freestyle, and won two Silver Relay Medals, with his Coolmine SC (and Castleknock College!) teammates, Darragh, Killian and Ali in the 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay and the 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay.
Darragh Morgan, swam in seven individual events, and made seven finals. He won Silver medals in the 200 Freestyle, 100 Butterfly and the 100 Backcrawl, plus two Silver Relay Medals, as above.
Killian O’Loughlin Brophy swam in seven individual events and two relays, winning three Gold Medals in the 50 Freestyle, 400 Freestyle and 200 IM, Silver in the 100 Freestyle and Bronze in the 200 Freestyle, plus two Relay Silvers as above.
Ali Rayan swam in four individual events and two relays, winning a Bronze in the 50 Freestyle, plus two Relay Silvers as above.
Matthew Turner qualified for and swam in four individual events, in his first year eligible for this competition and achieved four impressive Person Best times.
With all these impressive achievements at Summer Nationals, and a promising start to the 2023/24 season, we are once again hoping to put forward a strong Castleknock College team for the Schools Swimming competitions starting soon.
With this in mind, can all existing schools swimmers please make themselves known to Killian O’Loughlin Brophy next week so availability, individual entries and relays can be discussed.
Calling out for new swimmers (must be registered with Swim Ireland, as Competitive Swimmers and swimming with a club), especially first year students, if you wish to join the team and represent the school at the Leinster Schools Championships, please contact Killian or any of the swimmers mentioned above for information.