Well,  it’s that time  again, folks.  Time to get out of the wetsuits and the driving rain of the Summer and into the pool and heat of the Leisure Centre for the Winter.

Swimming starts again on the week of the 7th of September for all squads.   Training times have been texted out and are also posted on the website at https://killarneyswimmingclub.com/schedule/

Rotas will be posted on the club notice board and on the website once they have been finalised.

Registration is tomorrow night and the Membership Form can be downloaded at https://killarneyswimmingclub.com/downloads/ Please complete each section and hand in the form on the night.

Congratulations to our new lead coach, Cathal O’Brien, and best of luck to all our swimmers for the coming year.

On Saturday the 21^st of June we had our annual end-of-season day out. This year we went to Inch beach to test our surfing skills.

In fairness, our swimmers can’t be good at everything and sometimes taking part is more important than being talented and yes, perhaps it is true that more time was spent in the water rather than actually on it but, apart from these minor hiccups, a great day was had by all. Afterwards some serious amounts of burgers and chips were downed in Sam’s restaurant.

Thanks to all parents involved in the organisation of the day out and particularly to Denise who volunteered for “deck duty” in the sea!

Photos from the day can now be viewed on our Gallery page.

Congratulations to all our swimmers who took part in the grade “B” gala today in Tralee.  As this was the last “B” gala of the swimming season, swimmers from all clubs were at their peak of fitness.  Despite the stiff competition, Killarney swimmers excelled in all disciplines with medals, grade “A” times and Personal Bests aplenty.  Well done to all.

Congratulations to all club members who took part in the Community Games qualifiers in Tralee on Sunday the 19^th of April. The best young swimmers in the County took part with our Killarney swimmers acquitting themselves with great aplomb.

Under 10 Girls – Well done to one of our youngest swimmers, Faye O’Neill, who won silver in the 1 length freestyle.

Under 12 Girls – Congratulations to Pia Hickey in the 2 length backstroke who beat off all-comers to take the gold medal. Meanwhile, in the 2 length breaststroke, Grace Lynch, Ellen O’Connor and Clodagh Carroll turned on the style, coming in 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th.

Under 12 Boys – In the 2 length freestyle our swimmers tore the field apart with Ross O’Leary, Ethan O’Neill and Darragh Fleming coming 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th while in the 2 length breaststroke, Cian McAuliffe powered to a silver medal. Well done Cian.

Under 14 Girls – Not to be outdone, in the 2 length backstroke, Treasa O’Sullivan, Saibh O’Brien and Mairead Egan also came in 1^st, 2^nd and 4^th with Emer O’Dowd taking bronze in the 2 length butterfly and Aisling Reidy also winning bronze in the 2 length freestyle

Under 14 Boys – In the 2 length breaststroke Donal Daly won a very handy silver with Michael Sweeney taking bronze in the 2 length butterfly and Paudie O’Leary getting a silver in the 2 length freestyle.

Under 16 Girls – Some great displays by our swimmers in this group with Niamh Coffey driving home to take gold in the 2 length butterfly and Emer Dineen holding off the chasing pack to take bronze in the same race and Meabh O’Sullivan winning bronze in the 2 length freestyle.

Under 16 Boys – A wonderful gold medal went to Shane Kerins in the 2 length butterfly with Owen Fitzgerald taking the silver in the in the 2 length backstroke.

Relays – Congratulations to all our swimmers who competed for their local relay teams, winning medals galore – Paudie and Ross O’Leary, Donal and John Daly, Meabh and Orla O’Sullivan, Orlaith Reynolds, Ellen O’Connor, Grace Lynch, Julie-Rose Bowell and Saibh O’Brien to name but a few.

Finally, our ever-vigilant talent scouts on the poolside have reported back on some new names we’ll be watching out for in the future. So, Jocelyn Hickey, Cathal Coffey and Ross Bowell – well done on your medals.

Best of luck to all our swimmers as they represent Kerry at the Community Games in Athlone. Time to buy the green and gold togs!

Congratulations to all our swimmers who took part in the Grade “B” gala in Askeaton on Sunday the 15^th of March. There were noticeable and substantial improvements by our swimmers on their own “personal best” times for events and a fine haul of medals – all down to the hard work and commitment to training put in over the winter months.

Under 11 Girls – Well done to Pia Hickey and Saibh O’Brien in this age group. Pia won a silver medal in the 200 metres Individual Medley with Saibh taking the bronze. The girls swapped places on the podium for the 100 metres backstroke, with Saibh winning silver and Pia winning the bronze medal.

Under 13 Boys – Owen Fitzgerald had a great day out in this category winning a nice pair of silver medals in the 200 metres Individual Medley and the 100 metres backstroke. Meanwhile, Charles O’Brien won a fantastic bronze in the 100 metres breaststroke.

Under 15 Girls – Sarah O’Connor put in some powerful swimming in this highly competitive age group to take bronze in the 100 metres butterfly and bronze in the 200 metres freestyle.

Under 15 Boys – Some great displays by our swimmers in this group with John Daly taking a precious gold in the 100 metres butterfly and bronze in 200 metres freestyle while Michael Brosnan won an outstanding silver medal in the 100 metres butterfly.

Over 16 Girls – Congratulations to Sinead Lucey who won gold in the 200 metres freestyle, one of the toughest races in the gala. Congratulations also to Janine O’Connor who was unstoppable on the day, with a fantastic haul of medals, capturing gold in the 100 metres backstroke and a trio of silver medals in the 200 metres freestyle, the 200 metres Individual Medley and the 100 metres breaststroke.

Under 12 Relay Girls – Once again our relay teams were on fire with our 200 metres freestyle team of Ellen O’Connor, Cliona Murphy, Pia Hickey and Moya Noctor winning a very classy and promising bronze in the fastest of all relay competitions.

Never having competed in a 200 metres Medley Relay before, our coaches bravely entered Eva Quinn, Emer O’Dowd, Ellen Farndon and Julie Rose Bowell. There was no reason to worry. The girls electrified the pool, winning a silver medal for themselves and missing out on the gold by less than four hundredths of a second! Other clubs can only tremble for the future.

Thanks to our coaches, Kristian O’Donovan, Cathal O’Brien and Cathal Roche who gave wonderful support and encouragement to all our swimmers on the day.  Thanks also to all parents for travelling both in cars and on the bus and for taking part in the timekeeping.

Congratulations to all our swimmers who took part in the Grade “C” gala in Mallow on Sunday the 8^th of March. There were substantial improvements by our swimmers on their own “personal best” times for events and a very satisfactory collection of medals. Well done also to all those swimmers who were competing in their first gala.

Under 11 Boys – Congratulations to Nathaniel Doncel who had a fantastic gala, taking gold in the 100 metres Individual Medley and the 50 metres backstroke together with silver in the 100 metres freestyle and bronze in the 50 metres breaststroke. Colm Looney won a very fast gold medal in the 50 metres freestyle and bronze in the 100 metres freestyle. Killian Spillane took bronze in the difficult 50 metres backstroke and Ben Schreiber won a bronze medal in the highly competitive 50 metres freestyle.

Under 13 Boys – One to watch out for here is Rian O’Donovan who won a silver medal in the 50 metres backstroke and a bronze medal in the 100 metres Individual Medley. At the moment it looks like he is on his way up to “B” galas. Michael Sweeney won a brilliant bronze medal in the 50 metres butterfly in a very hard-fought race.

Under 13 Girls – Well done to Imogen O’Connor who was competing in her first gala and won a gold medal in the 50 metres freestyle. Not only was she the fastest in her own age group, but her time was also the fastest for all age groups taking part in the event.

Under 15 Girls – Liadh O’Sullivan was on fire on the day taking gold in the 50 metres breaststroke, silver in the 100 metres freestyle and the 50 metres backstroke and bronze in the 100 metres Individual Medley. Not to be outdone, Emma Quirke went on to win silver medals in the 50 metres butterfly and the 50 metres freestyle and a bronze medal in the 50 metres backstroke. Congratulations to both girls.

Under 15 Relay – To round off the day, our relay team of Imogen O’Connor, Liadh O’Sullivan, Emma Quirke, Nathaniel Doncel, Michael Sweeney and Rian O’Donovan won bronze in a hotly contested race.

Thanks to our coaches, Kristian O’Donovan and Cathal O’Brien who gave wonderful support and encouragement to all our swimmers on the day.  Thanks also to all parents for travelling.

Swim Ireland recently launched their 2015 “Swim for a Mile” challenge.  The project, which was initiated in 2014, challenges members of the public to compete in national events to swim a mile. Swim Ireland will provide a free training programme, support, advice and motivation for all those wanting to take on the challenge, details of which are on the Swim Ireland dedicated website at  http://www.swimforamile.com/  with proceeds going to the Simon Community.

The 2015 event promises to be bigger and better than last year.  Swim Ireland have teamed up with Ireland Active to get pools all across Ireland participating and encouraging people to take the plunge and swim a mile.  One of pools participating is the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre so there is no excuse!

Anyone over sixteen can take part and the big day is Friday the 22nd of May, 2015.

Congratulations to all our swimmers who took part in the Grade “A” gala in Tralee recently.  There were some substantial improvements by our swimmers on their own “personal best” times for events and a very satisfactory collection of medals.

Under 13 Girls – Margaret O’Brien took gold in the 400 metres freestyle, the 400 metres Individual Medley and in the 100 metres butterfly while Niamh Coffey won gold in the 200 metres butterfly and Treasa O’Sullivan won bronze in the 200 metres backstroke and the 400 metres Individual Medley.

Under 15 Boys – Shane Kerins won gold medals in the 200 and in the 100 metres butterfly while also taking a silver medal in the 400 metres Individual Medley and in the 400 metres freestyle.  Robert O’Brien won silver in the 100 metres breaststroke and bronze medals in the 400 metres Individual Medley and 400 metres freestyle.

Under 17 Boys – Shane Courtney took bronze in the hard-fought 200 metres butterfly.

Thanks to our lead-coach, Kristian O’Donovan, who gave huge support and encouragement to all our swimmers.  Thanks also to all parents for travelling.

Congratulations to our swimmers who took part in the recent Invitational Gala in UL.  The Gala was a “long course” event i.e. in a 50 metre Olympic-size swimming pool.

Boys over 16 – Shane Courtney won gold medals in the 200 metres freestyle and the 100 metres butterfly and a silver medal in the 100 metres backstroke.

Girls over 16 – Sinead Lucey won silver medals in the 100 metres backstroke and the 100 metres butterfly and a bronze in the 200 IM.

Boys under 15 – John Daly won bronze in the 100 metres freestyle.

Girls under 13 – Niamh Coffey won gold medals in the 200 metres IM and the 100 metres butterfly with Wiktoria Niewiadomska winning gold in the 200 metres freestyle.

Boys under 11 – Paudie O’Leary won a silver medal in the 200 metres freestyle and a bronze in the 100 metre backstroke while his brother, Ross O’Leary, picked up bronze in the 100 metres freestyle.

Thanks to our coaches and to the parents who travelled on the bus to Limerick and who volunteered for time keeping and turn duty on the day.