Irish Masters were in good company today with Irish Ambassador to Slovenia Myles Geiran showing his support to the athletes. The swimmers did not disappoint with 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal to show off for the photo call with the Ambassador.
Liz Cosgrave of Trojan SC has announced her arrival in the 60-64 age group with a definitive win in the 200m backstroke in a time of 3:02.12, knocking an impressive 37 seconds off the current Irish record. Helena McGrath, also of Trojan SC was the only other Irish swimmer in the 200m backstroke and posted a time of 2:54.41 to claim 7th place in the 45-49 age group.
Cosgrave barely had time to catch her breath before she took to the blocks in the 50m butterfly, swimming a speedy 35.13 which was good enough for a silver medal and new Irish record. Agnieszcka Wysocka of Aer Lingus Masters just missed out on the podium with a 4th place finish in the 30-34 age group while Brenda Healy placed 22nd in the 35-39 age group.
In the men’s 50m butterfly John Cunningham, Limerick Masters picked up his second medal of the meet with a bronze medal in a time of 26.88 in the 45-49 age group. Aer Lingus Masters team mates Peter Conway and Declan O’Sullivan placed 11th and 13th respectively in the 55-59 age group. Glenalbyn Masters swimmer Csaba Egly placed 26th in the 35-39 age group.
The 100m freestyle saw fourteen Irish swimmers take on the sprint event. Tina Reynolds of Sandycove Island was best of the women in 7th place in 55-59 age group. Jasenka Solaja (Trojan SC) placed 24th in the 40-44 age group while Brenda Healy (Marlins SC) and Roisin O’Brien (Kilkenny SC) finished 16th and 19th in the 35-39 age group. In the 30-34 age group Agnieszcka Wysocka (Aer Lingus Masters) placed 12th, Ann McGrath (Dublin) was 23rd and Catherine Fenton 30th. In the men’s event Boyd Freeman and Vivian Mongey of Aer Lingus Masters swam in the 55-59 age group, finishing 15th and 28th. Andrew Desmond (Trojan SC) placed 18th in the 50-54 age group while in the 35-39 age group Mike O’Connell of Kingdom Masters placed 15th and Glenalbyn Masters’ Csaba Egly was 26th.
The Aer Lingus Masters team of Vivian Mongey, Agnieszcka Wysocka, Peter Conway and Dymphna Morris finally got their hands on a medal, finishing top of their age group (200-239) in a time of 1:54.51 in the 4x50m mixed freestyle relay, with a new Irish record to match their gold medal.
The Irish team medal tally now stands at 10; 6 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze. Tomorrow, Friday is the final day of swimming in the pool with 200m butterfly, 50m backstroke and 100m breaststroke closing out the program.