By
ANDY FARRELL, 11 x IRISH MASTERS RECORD HOLDER
The National Arena at Limerick was the Venue for the Irish Masters Long Course open Championships this weekend, and once again the Templeogue Men were in record breaking form in both individual and relay team events.
The first event of the day was the mixed 400m freestyle which saw TSC swimmers Ian Thom (18-24yrs age group) and Andrew Farrell (30-34 yrs age group), already national record holders in their respective age groups for this event, spear heading the fastest heat. With a long day of swimming ahead both men put in solid performances to win their age groups comfortably, with Ian improving his own national record by 1 second to 4min32 and Andy 4 seconds off his own record with a time of 4min38.
Next event was the 50m Backstroke with 50m specialist Brian Lee (25-29yrs age group) joining Ian Thom in the fastest heat of the event. Maintaining the team’s 100% record both men scored wins in their age group, with the teams tally of golds at 4 after only 2 events.
Peter Sherry (25-29yrs age group) was next up in the 200m Individual Medley, Peter an expert on all 4 strokes won his age group by some distance in a time of 2min29s.
Event 4 saw 50m specialist Brian Lee score his 2 gold of the morning in the 50m Butterfly, utilising his tremendous underwater skills powering home in an impressive 28.2 seconds
Next up was the 200m freestyle which once again saw Templeogue Freestyle specialists Ian Thom and Andy Farrell head the fastest heat. In a much closer race than the earlier 400m event Andy pushed Ian (ten years his junior) all way with Ian winning his age group in a time of 2.06 and Andy finishing just behind Ian to win his age group in a time of 2.07 improving the national record he set last month by just over a second.
Peter Sherry was next to swim in the 100m butterfly. Peter, an expert on all 4 strokes, won the fly event comfortably in a time 1min04. No sooner was Peter out of the water and towelled off from his butterfly, Peter was back in the water for the 100m Breaststroke. Demonstrating his fitness and ability on all 4 strokes Peter demolished the field to win his age group in a time of 1min20.
The morning session ended with the medley relay event. The current Irish record for the Mens relay stood at 2.07.5 for the last 5 years, the Templeogue Team knew a good start was key if they were to stand a chance of setting a new record. Ian Thom had the responsibility of getting the team started with the first leg on backstroke, with a brilliant start Ian set a new record for 50m backstroke in his age group with a time of 30.5. Peter Sherry continued the charge on the breaststroke leg, with the boys splitting the race at 1.06 at the halfway stage the pressure was on the anchor men to bring it home. 50m specialist Brian Lee once again demonstrated his sprint prowess on the butterfly leg with a super quick time of 27.9. It was then over to Senior team member and anchorman Andy Farrell to bring the team home on the Freestyle leg. Breathing only twice over the 50m distance Andy kept his cool to bring the team home and smash the old record by over 5 seconds with a time of 2.01.34.
First event of the afternoon was the 100m freestyle which once again saw Andy and Ian continue their dominance of the freestyle events, both Men scoring golds in their age groups in times of 57.2 and 59.2. Ian was straight back into the water for 200m Backstroke, showing his endurance prowess Ian won the event in a time of 2minutes28 seconds setting a new Irish Master Record in the 18-24yrs age group. 50m specialist Brian Lee had entered the 50m Breaststroke, however Brian decided to focus his efforts and energies on the team events coming up later and unselfishly ducked out of this one length killer. Well done Brian. Having already won the 50m and 200m Backstroke events Ian Thom was back on his back for the 100m backstroke. In a time of 1min08 Ian completed the set of backstroke golds winning his age group once again.
Event 17 of the day was the 200m Butterfly- 4 lengths of an Olympic sized pool is a gruelling physical challenge in any gala, but given the team had by this stage been at the pool for nearly 10 hours and raced collectively over 3000m this was not a race for the faint hearted. Templeogue’s Iron men Peter Sherry and Andy Farrell stepped up to head the final and fastest heat of the event. In a heroic display both men powered home to win their respective age groups Peter in 2min28 and Andy 2.34.0 - a new Irish Masters Record in the 30-34yrs age group, a remarkable feat for a man of his age.
No sooner had Andy towelled off from the 200 fly he was joining his team mates Ian Thom and 50m specialist Brian Lee in the final heat of the last individual event of the day, the 50m Freestyle. Once again Ian demonstrated why he is Leinster skins champion on this event with a tremendous time of 25seconds to win his 7th individual gold of the day! 50m specialist Brian Lee in a time of 26s also claimed a gold medal in his age group. However for the first time in the day a TSC swimmer didn’t win a gold medal in an event, senior team member and captain Andy Farrell finished 4th in the 30-24yrs age group with a time of 27.5 in what turned out to be a surprisingly competitive event. Asked about this aberration, Andy just pointed to his arms and said he was saving the guns for the team relay record attempt coming up shortly.
And so after almost 12 hours poolside the final event of the day rolled around, the Mens 200m Freestyle relay. The current record stood at 1min54sec held by Aer Lingus Masters. The Team TSC men were to go in heat 2, and watched as in heat 1 Kingdom Masters shaved a just under 1 second off the Aer Lingus record. As the Kingdom boys celebrated and high fived their new national time the Templeogue men focussed on their now harder task. Lead off by Ian Thom in a time of 25.2 the record looked to be a distinct possibility. 2nd was senior team member and Captain Andy Farrell who had saved himself in his individual freestyle 50 to ensure he could give 110% for his team. Swimming a split of 26 his gamble had paid off, with the record looking certain to be smashed. As Peter Sherry took over for the 3rd leg Kingdom Masters celebrations came to an abrupt halt as they watched the Templeogue man power down the pool in a smoking 28.0. Anchoring the team home was 50m specialist Brian Lee who touched the team home in a time of 1min47.34 to smash the Irish record sec in the previous heat by over 6 seconds!!
By the end of the day the boys had clocked up over 4000m in races, 20 individual gold medals, 2 relay wins, 6 individual Irish Masters Records and 2 Team Irish Masters records. Oh and one 4th place. A job well done by the lads, who afterwards enjoyed a much deserved Malt from the Limerick branch of Eddie Rockets
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