The National Championships for swimmers aged 12,13 and 14) held at the University of Limerick Arena over the weekend was without doubt Drogheda Swim Club’s most successful to date. 

The standard and depth of these championships was much higher than previous years possibly as the Covid years wash out of the system, however all of the Drogheda swimmers stepped up and did not look out of place amongst the best aquatic athletes in the country.

From 56 long course swims there were 42 personal best performances, 10 qualifiers for A finals, 3 qualifiers for B finals and 4 reserves for finals and many local swimmers making the Swim Ireland most improved lists.

Jessica Sweeney announced her arrival on the National stage with four Golds (100m Free, 400m Free, 200m IM, 200m Backstroke) and three Silvers (50m Free, 100m Back, 200m Free) all in top class times and against fierce competition. 

Between heats and finals, Jess swam 16 races in 4 days and PB’d in 13 of these with the standout swim probably being the very last event – the 100m Free in 1.04.65, an extremely fast time for age 12!

Szymon Kowlaski was a revelation in the Backstroke events with big PBs over 50m (37.30), 100m (1.18.43) and 200m (2.47.65) and qualifying for A finals in both the 100m and 200m events. He battled hard in each final and improved his ranking in each race. This form carried into the Freestyle with PBs over both 50m (33.23) and 100m (1.11.89).  Breaststroke specialist Adam Kozak went 4 PBs from 4 races with new bests set over 100m (1.37.96) and 200m (3.24.59) with the latter time set in the A Final.

Lili Patchell qualified for both A finals in her preferred event of Breaststroke and set a new PB over 100m (1.33.31) as well as swimming new bests in the 200m IM (3.01.83) and 100m Backstroke (1.25.78) and making the Swim Ireland Most Improved list for the 200m IM.

Isla Mathieson had a big program swimming seven races, collecting up new marks in five of these with a massive 15 second improvement in the 200m Breaststroke (3.25.30) and qualification for the A final being the highlight. 

In the age 13 category, Wiktoria Wajgelt had a busy week swimming nine races with 8 PBs and qualifying for the 200m Breast Stroke final in which she swam a super-fast time of 3.12.16, an 11 second improvement over her entry time. Lauren Fearn swam well with PBs coming in the 50m Freestyle (31.24) and 100m Backstroke (1.19.99) while Josh McArdle also competed strongly in the 50m Free and both Breaststroke events.

The Age 12 mixed medley relay team, which won the Leinster Championships in May, all swam great PBs in their individual legs of the race but finished just outside the medals which gives an indication of the strength of the competition out there.

All of the team contributed massively to the success of the team thanks to their hard work in the pool particularly over the last six weeks with additional training sessions in the NAC and bringing a great attitude to every race!

The club would like to thank in particular the parents who endured long days in UL, to Paula Hicks and Magda Wajgelt who provided much needed coaching support and to Team Manager, Charlene Mathieson, who directed operations from her perch on poolside.

The club has a strong bunch of swimmers coming up behind this group so hopefully they will be inspired to make it to Limerick next year!