Irish record for Stephen Campbell to conclude a successful European Championships for Ireland's Paralympic Swimmers
Written by: creative in Swimming on
Dec 4, 2009
Ireland's Stephen Campbell set a new Irish record tonight on the final evening of competition at the International Paralympic Committee European Swimming Championships in Iceland. Campbell set a new Irish standard of 67.14 to finish 7th in the final of the 100m Freestyle (S11 Class).
Campbell, overjoyed with his performance, spoke to the assembled press after the race declaring, "A great way to finish the meet for me, a new pb and I have really enjoyed swimming the final tonight." Campbell started strongly out of the blocks and maintained a strong pace to take .06 seconds off his previous mark.
This morning, teenager Laurence McGivern, set a new personal best in the heats of the 100m Freestyle (S9 Class). This was a strong swim from which McGivern will reap invaluable experience that will stand to him over the coming years.
For Ireland, it has been an extremely successful European Championship competition with 2 Silver medals, 14 finals and 14 personal best performances. Star of the team was Wexford's Darragh McDonald with a haul of two European silver medals to add to his silver medal from the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. With over half the team making their major Championship debut with such success and still a very young squad, this has been a tremendous performance for the Irish Paralympic Swimming Team.
For Head of Paralympic Swimming, Dave Malone, at his first championships in the role, the championships have been a very rewarding experience. Reflecting on the team's performance, Malone said, "This has truly been a tremendous championships for the Irish team. The team is young and full of potential with our objective coming over here being to compete against the best athletes in Europe and to learn for the experience. The team delivered on all fronts, competing in finals every night and achieving many new personal best times. To win 2 silver medals has been a fantastic achievement for Darragh McDonald and the whole country should be proud of our team's performance."
Team manager, Mary McDonnell is overjoyed with the team's performance. "The trip has been a huge success. The swimmers excelled themselves in some very tough competition here at the championships. With one of Ireland's most successful Paralympic competitors at the helm offering invaluable experience, next years World Swimming Championship has the potential to be a very rewarding affair."
The Irish team will arrive into Dublin Airport on Sunday evening (25th October) at 22.05pm.
Report provided graciously by Paralympic Council of Ireland.
Why Sport Matters
Written by: creative in Untagged on
Nov 12, 2009
Ireland send team to the Wheelchair Rugby European Championships
Written by: nicky in Rugby, Press Release on
Oct 6, 2009
IWA - Sport will send an Irish National team to the Wheelchair Rugby European Championships being held in Denmark from the 14th to the 17th of October.
In February of this year Ireland qualified for the championships when winning their respective zonal qualifier in a tournament that was hosted in IWA - Sport HQ.
A team of 10 players and 4 staff will travel to the event which in total will host 125 players from 12 European nations.
Training and preparations have gone well and the squad would like to acknowledge the support of its sponsors Ulster Bank.
Looking forward to the tournament Irish Wheelchair Rugby Chairman, Mr. Alan Lynch, said "We wish the team the very best of luck. After the success of the team at the European Qualifiers we hope to see a strong performance in Denmark. It is also refreshing and promising for the future of Irish Wheelchair Rugby to see new squad members coming to the fore. This is the beginning of a long journey for Irish Wheelchair Rugby to build towards qualifying for World Championship and Paralympic Games. This is a team of very talented players and this is a perfect opportunity for them to display their talent."
The team, captained by Alan Lynch, is looking forward to the challenge of this European Championships and is looking to improve on their current European and World rankings in the hope of qualifying for next years World Championships in Canada.
To keep updated about the tournament please log onto www.ecwheelchairrugby2009.dk
2009 Cork Athletics Games
Written by: nicky in Upcoming Events on
Aug 28, 2009
The 2009 Cork Athletics Games are being organised by the Cork Wheelchair Sport & Youth Club. These games are open to Junior, Intermediate, Development, and Senior ‘Open and closed' athletes. These games are focused on fun and participation!
Click here for more info!
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