Report – CDETB SCC Swimming Finals – Wednesday 25th February, 2015

CDETB SCC Swimming Finals – Wednesday 25th February, 2015

By Louise Browne

PRESENTATION TERENURE AND LARKIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE where never lacking in team or competitive spirit as they powered their way to glory by winning the overall Girls and Boys accolade at yesterday’s CDETB SCC Swimming Gala in the Alsaa Swimming Pool at Dublin Airport.

Presentation’s Rachel Rue may have been one of the youngest and smaller members of their swimming squad but her influence was crucial.  Rue powered her way to gold in the minor backstroke in the opening event of the day ahead of Gosha Przeworska of Marino College and Colaiste Eoin’s Rebecca Dowling.

Rue then led an exceptional minor relay team of Layla Cherbatji, Laura Kelleher and Meabh Corcoran to brilliance in the freestyle and medley relay races finishing ahead of Larkin Community College and Colaiste Eoin in both finals.

While Pres’ Cherbatji won gold in the minor front crawl, Marino’s Christina Lagura Yalapin took silver with St Kevin’s College Toni Smith winning bronze.  Kelleher added another gold medal for the Southside School by winning the minor breaststroke final Marino’s Przeworska won her second silver of day with Larkin’s Shanice Rock taking home bronze.

In the minor boys competition Keith Regan had led the way for Larkin with gold in the backstroke pursuit ahead of Colaiste Eoin’s Stelian Ganlisleac.  Next up it was Larkin’s Brendan Mare’s turn to touch home first in the minor front crawl ahead of Kylemore College’s Lee Donohue and Bradley Fallon of St Kevin’s College.

Dylan Caffrey then made it a hat-trick of wins by winning the minor breaststroke, St Kevin’s Josh Lawrence was second with Colaiste Eoin’s Dylan Taffee finishing third.  Dylan, Darragh Salinger, Mare and Regan rounded off a wonderful day with two more gold medals apiece by winning the minor freestyle and medley relays finals.

Pres’ continued their dominance in the junior contest with Sarah Sebaoui winning the junior backstroke ahead of Larkin’s Nicola Maher and Kylemore College’s Katie Ann Smith.  While Caitlin McKean won the front crawl for the Southside School, Larkin’s Cara Dunne finished second with Kylemore’s Abby Corcoran coming home in third place.

Marino College’s Demi Cunningham broke Pres’ domination with an excellent swim in the junior girls breaststroke beating Pres’ Aoife Lawlor into second place and Catherine Robinson of Colaiste Eoin in third spot.

Lawlor bounced back when she, McKean, Sebaoui and Marie Anne Adgie captured the junior freestyle and medley relays with exceptional swimming from the Presentation quartet.

Larkin’s Kamil Gorka, who was outstanding on the day, won a gold medal in his opening swim in the junior backstroke.  A strong swim from Tony Millar saw the Larkin student get the better of Marino’s Mark Ivanov (silver) and Colaiste Eoin’s Lee Bradley (bronze) in the front crawl final.  James Harris then put together a super performance for another gold medal for Larkin finishing in front of Kylemore’s Curtis Carberry and Marino’s Mark Ivanov.

Larkin’s relay junior team of Gorka, Miller, Harris and Jordan Fox went on to add more gold medals to their ever expanding medal tally by winning the freestyle and medley junior boys relay finals.

Presentation Terenure went from strength to strength with Trisha Lee Cante winning the intermediate backstroke, Colaiste Eoin’s Megan Kavanagh was second and Larkin’s Shiree Ward third.  Colaiste Eoin’s Jessica Philips swam an exceptional race to win gold denying Pres’ Laura Doyle top honours with Larkin’s Shauna Mitchell finishing third in the intermediate front crawl contest.

Pres’ resumed winning ways when Niamh Delmar got the better of Larkin’s Tiffany Heary in the intermediate breaststroke race before Ellen O’Rahilly won the intermediate butterfly final.

Favourites Pres’ and Larkin faced off in the intermediate girls freestyle and medley finals with Pres’ made up of O’Rahilly, Lee Cante, Delmar and Doyle proving too strong for Larkin’s team of Mitchell, Emma Mullen, Shiree Fallon and Heary with Colaiste Eoin finishing third in both finals.

Larkin’s Timor Vorobjov put in an inspiring swim to win the intermediate boys backstroke title ahead of Kylemore’s Murray Charlie and St Kevin’s Mikey McCoy.  Robbie McCabe, who like Vorobjov, excelled in the pool won individual gold medals for Larkin in the intermediate front crawl and the butterfly.

Kylemore College’s Sean Corcoran put in a strong swim to win the boys intermediate breaststroke, Corcoran who had finished second behind McCabe in the butterfly final, went one better to beat Larkin’s Ryan Fay and St Kevin’s Seamus Donohue.

Larkin then pulled off another boys double in the relay competition adding the intermediate to the minor and junior relay titles with McCabe, Gorka, Fay and Gabriel Aghinita leading the charge to round off an astonishing day for Larkin’s boys team.

In the senior competition Michael Brophy of St Kevin’s College took gold ahead of Crumlin College’s Stephen Carey with Carey’s colleague Jenni Pretorias in third in the mixed senior backstroke final.  It was double delight for the Saint’s when Keith Weldon finished first in the mixed senior front crawl, Inchicore College’s Luke Geaney finished second with Sean Scott of Crumlin College coming third.

Next up Inchicore’s Shane Hawthorne topped the podium in the senior breaststroke, Aaron O’Connor won silver for Crumlin College with Gareth Farrell winning bronze for St Kevin’s College.  Crumlin College’s Brendan Geraghty pulled out all the stops to beat Inchicore’s Jack Weldon and Kevin Murphy of St Kevin’s College in a closely contested final before Geraghty’s colleague Beatrice Fagan overcame Colaiste Eoin’s Orlaith Kelly to win the senior girls front crawl.

Crumlin College’s relay team of Sean Scott, Stephen Carey, Aaron O’Connor and Brendan Geraghty went on to win the senior boys freestyle relay race.  While Inchicore’s Shane Hawthorne, Jack Whelan, Thomas Cleece and Luke Geaney won gold in the senior boy’s medley relay final.