The new season is well and truly under way, preparatory training is over, and our squads have started travelling to Galas at weekends. So far, well done to all our swimmers who took part the Munster Minor and Senior Schools Gala on the 28th and 29th of October in Cork and to everyone who swam in the Munster Short Course Gala on the 4th and 5th of November, also in Cork.  Also, to all our swimmers who were in Tralee yesterday for the Development 2 Meet. Next up are two big Invitational Galas – in Tralee on the 26th of November and Askeaton on the 10th of December.

On the 17th of December we have the big one – “El Grande” – our own annual Christmas Gala! Not too much can be said at this stage, as obviously we are all sworn to secrecy, but the word on the street is that the line-up this year will be spectacular. Fair dues, Samantha.

Another big event on the near horizon is the annual Killarney Rotary Wine & Art Evening in the Malton Hotel on Thursday the 30th of November. Apart from being seriously good craic, Killarney Swimming Club will get a large, meaty, cut out of whatever it can collect from ticket sales so please buy your tickets from Samantha O’Connor or Jim Kennedy as it’s a great way of raising money for the club.

Dry land training will be available through the Aura for club members from the 6th of January and details can be had through squad co-ordinators.

For all of you interested in the 2017 Swim Ireland Congress and Awards, all you will ever need to know can be found here.

A big welcome to our newly qualified level one coaches who will taking up their posts in the coming weeks on poolside as they shadow Cathal, John and Betty to get experience. Please be kind!

A sad goodbye to Leontia and Shane who will be leaving our coaching team – and club – this week. Everyone knows Shane who has been with the club since the beginning both as a swimmer and, more recently, as a coach and it certainly will be a quieter pool without him. No doubt Shane will make a “splash” in whichever career he chooses, and we wish him the very best. Leontia will be sorely missed by us all as she has become an integral part of Killarney Swimming Club over the last three years giving steady, reliable advice to both Committee and swimmers alike and we wish her absolutely every success in the future.  No doubt there will be tears when she takes her last session on Thursday evening!

It’s nearly time to start up again and we are all looking forward to a season of fun, swimming and friends however, a timely warning has come in from Swim Ireland of some of the dangers our swimmers may face out there in the real world.  Please read this carefully, then read it again.  A copy of this email is posted on our Downloads page for easy access.

“Hello,
We were informed over the weekend by a club who had experience of a potentially concerning incident.
A young club member was rung on their mobile phone and the caller, who said they were from one of our regions, was calling to say the young person had been ‘chosen’ to represent their club in a gala, together with a (named) friend. The caller arranged to meet the young person at a specific time, date and place. The information the caller had included the young person’s name, phone number, club and the name of one of the young person’s friends. This was a hoax call, and we do not know the intention of the caller.
The situation described above was reported to the authorities and the matter is being investigated. However it is timely, with our athletes returning to their clubs to remind parents to check on their child’s social media status – just how much information do young people share on line with people they don’t know?
A few social media pointers for young people:
1. Only be friends with people you know
2. Settings should be set to private or friends only
3. Contact details do not need to be included – ‘talking’ with known friends over social media does not require your home address, email or mobile details to be posted online
4. Make sure you know what to do with calls from unknown numbers – talk to your parent/guardian.
5. Don’t disclose or share user names or passwords for your social media account with anyone other than a parent/guardian
6. Know who is responsible for passing on information about your club activities and always check with your parent/guardian if you are unsure – Swim Ireland doesn’t contact any child without a parent/guardian’s consent or knowledge.
Attached is a brief guide to some settings – these should help point young people and their parents/guardians in the right direction.
And for parents/guardians, a few conversation starters (appropriate to the age of the child):
• Do you really know everybody on your ‘friends’ list?
• Do you know how to use and set privacy and security settings? Can you show me how?
• Do you ever get messages from strangers? If so, how do you handle them?
• Do you know anyone who has made plans to meet someone offline that they’ve only ever spoken to online?
• Are people in your group of friends ever mean to each other, or to other people, online or on phones? If so, what do they say? Has anyone ever been mean to you? Would you tell me about it if they were?
• Has anyone at your school, or anyone else you know, taken naked or sexy photos and sent them to other people, or received photos like that?
If you have any queries please contact us.
Regards
Kate Hills, MSc.
National Children’s Officer
Mobile: +353 86 8560672 ”

Well done to our swimmers who took part in the recent national-level IAG Division 2 Gala in UL where the best swimmers from all four provinces were involved.   There were loads of PBs for Killarney.   Paul O’Leary made the finals in both the 100 metres and 200 metres breaststroke, getting his Division 1 times along the way and just being pipped for a medal in the final. Robert O’Brien was another Killarney swimmer who made the finals in both the 200 metres backstroke and the 200 metres breaststroke and swam superbly in both finals. Congratulations also to Margaret O’Brien who brought home a bronze medal in the 200 metres butterfly – an incredible achievement.  Meanwhile Alan O’Shea moved closer to that ever-elusive 1:00:00 marker in the 100 metres freestyle.

Well done, Killarney, and thanks to our senior coach, Cathal O’Brien, who gave such wonderful support and encouragement to our swimmers in Limerick – all those long hours of training have certainly paid off.  Thanks also to all those parents who travelled and helped-out. 

Regular readers of Killarney Swimming Club Notes will need no reminding of the fantastic achievements of Killarney Swimming Club members, Mary Claire McCarthy and Antoinette O’Leary, in the Special Olympics Regional Advancement Competition in UL on the 27th of May, nor of how Mary Claire went on to win the gold medal in the 200 metres freestyle and a silver medal in the 100 metres freestyle nor how Antoinette took gold in the 100 metres freestyle and silver in the 100 metres backstroke.

However, what our regular readers will not know is that their successes in Limerick caught the eye of the judges and both girls have just been selected to swim for Munster in the 2018 Special Olympics Ireland Games to be held in Dublin from the 14th to the 17th of June next year!!

This is such fantastic news for the swimmers, their parents and their coaches and we are honoured in Killarney Swimming Club to be associated with both athletes.

Well done to both girls – we are all so proud of you.

Best of luck from everyone in the Club to our senior swimmers who are currently in the final weeks of training before the upcoming Division 1 and Division 2 Galas, while the rest of us are just chillin’ and slurping ice-cream!

This year we have eleven swimmers competing at Division 2 level and a further three who have qualified for Division 1 and, recently, all swimmers were presented with commemorative Killarney Swimming Club tops to mark their achievement by Swimming Club Chairman Brian O’Connor and Senior Squad Co-ordinator Ann-Marie Galvin under the ever-watchful eye of our Senior Coach, Cathal O’Brien.  Can you name the swimmers?  If not, just scroll down – but can you name the girl in the background who is a former swimming club member?  Answers and guesses by email to killarneyswimmingclub@gmail.com – there’s a prize for the first correct email drawn from the hat.  Look!  there she is again.

Killarney Swimming Club Senior Squad members who are taking part in the upcoming Divisional Galas.  Division 1 swimmers – Niamh Coffey, Charles O’Brien and Pia Hickey.  Division 2 swimmers – Robert O’Brien, Margaret O’Brien, Alan O’Shea, Orlaith Reynolds, Nathaniel Doncel, Aisling Coffey, Paul O’Leary, Ellen O’Connor and Ethan O’Neill.  (Missing from the photo are Shane Kerins and Julie Rose Bowell.)

Congratulations to our swimmers who took part in the Munster/Connaught IAG in UL from the 2nd to the 4th of June, all events taking place in the Olympic-sized pool.  This is the business-end of the swimming season with Swim Ireland representatives keeping an eye out now for potential national talent.  Killarney were represented by a wonderful team of 11 swimmers – Julie Rose Bowell, Aisling Coffey, Marta Doberschuetz, Nathaniel Doncel, Pia Hickey, Charles O’Brien, Robert O’Brien, Emer O’Dowd, Ethan O’Neill, Alan O’Shea and Orlaith Reynolds.

Charles O’Brien powered to a silver medal in the 200 metres breaststroke and added another Division 1 qualifying time to his CV.  Meanwhile his brother, Robert O’Brien won a tasty trio of bronze medals in the 200 metres backstroke, 200 metres breaststroke and the 200 metres Individual Medley.  Also swimming with great determination was Julie Rose Bowell to get her qualifying time in the 200 metres freestyle.  Finally, we must mention Pia Hickey who managed to knock an outrageous 20 seconds of her time in the 200 metres freestyle.

Thanks to our Senior Coach, Cathal O’Brien, for all his work in Limerick and to all parents who travelled and helped out during the gala.

Congratulations to Killarney Swimming Club members, Mary Clare McCarthy and Antionette O’Leary, who received the call up to take part in the Special Olympics Regional Advancement Competition in UL last Saturday the 27^th of May.  This was a huge achievement for both girls and well deserved after many months of hard training.  Before setting out for Limerick, the club put on a “good luck” party with presentations being made to both girls.

On the day, both swimmers represented their families, Club and County in some serious style with Mary Clare showing true grit and determination to win the gold medal in the 200 metres freestyle and a silver medal in the 100 metres freestyle while Antoinette absolutely sparkled in the pool to win a precious gold medal in the 100 metres freestyle event and the silver medal in the 100 metres backstroke.

Well done to both girls – we are all so proud of you.

The annual club day out took place last Sunday, the 21st of May, to Castlegregory and what a fantastic day was had by all!   Over half our club travelled which is a huge turn out.

Between boogie-boarding and kayaks, trampolines and pedal boats, nothing was left untested.  With the water being described as  “not warm”, there was a welcome break for some fine dining with a menu including such favourites as chicken nuggets, sausages and burgers.  There was even a vegetarian option – chips!

Club awards were handed out on the day by Samantha O’Connor and there was general agreement that it was the best club day out ever.

Enormous thanks, as always, must to Samantha for all her hard work and kindness on the day and throughout the year, Denise for keeping the whole thing together and our coach, Leontia, for being there when she was needed.  Thanks also to the parents who travelled on the day to help out.

A selection of photos can be viewed here and anyone who would like to add extra photos of the day out to the website, please send them in.

Congratulations to our swimmers who took part in the Grade II Gala in UL on the 1^st of April. The Gala was a long-course event i.e. in a 50 metre Olympic-size swimming pool and this was a “first” for most of these swimmers.  Nevertheless, there were plenty of personal best times achieved as well as medals.  One of our swimmers, Moya Noctor, improved on her time in the 200 metres freestyle by an incredible 20 seconds!  Well done, Moya.

Girls under 11 – Faye O’Neill took to the podium for a marvellous bronze medal win in the 100 metres backstroke. Faye is certainly one of the club’s bright young prospects and it was a well-deserved win.

Girls over 14 – Sarah O’Connor won a magnificent bronze medal in the 100 metres freestyle in what was a very fast and hard-fought race. We always knew Sarah was made of tough stuff and she certainly proved that on the day!

Thanks to our coach, Leontia Doody, and assistant coach, Shane Kerins, for all their help and encouragement and to all those parents who travelled to Limerick and particularly those who volunteered for time keeping.

Congratulations to all our swimmers who took part in the Grade III gala in Mallow on Saturday the 18^th of March – a tough thing to do after all that green ice-cream the day before!  There were substantial improvements by our swimmers on their own “personal best” times for events and a very satisfactory collection of thirteen medals.

Under 11 Girls – Ava O’Malley set the standard for the day with an early gold in the 100 metres freestyle.

Under 11 Boys – Peter O’Doherty showed that the boys were not to be outdone taking gold in the 50 metres backstroke.

Under 13 Boys –Nathan O’Connor won an impressive silver in the 50 metres butterfly in a very difficult race.

Over 14 Girls – In this age group, Killarney girls completely dominated the podium with medals in all events, bar one.  Elizabeth McGuire was taking no prisoners in the pool striking gold in all her events; the 100 metres freestyle, the 50 metres backstroke and the 50 metres breaststroke.  Roisin O’Callaghan was also in flying form taking gold in the 100 metres Individual Medley and bronze in the 50 metres breaststroke.  Louise Fleming picked up a very tasty silver in the 100 metres Individual Medley while Grace Lynch showed what she was made of to win a silver medal in the 50 metres breaststroke.  Cliona Murphy finished with a wonderful burst of speed to take a marvellous silver in the 100 metres freestyle.

Over 14 Boys – Adam Flynn held the Killarney flag high in this category to win a coveted gold medal in the 50 metres backstroke and a silver in the 50 metres butterfly.

Thanks to our coach, Betty McGuire, and our Team Manager, Denise Casey, who gave wonderful support and encouragement to all our swimmers on the day.  Thanks also to all parents for travelling and taking part in timekeeping.