ALL things are good in Coventry today as SHANE FAUL wakes up this morning with an even bigger smile on his face as he reflects on his performances from EASTER weekend at a competition in Birmingham.
It's the CITY of BIRMINGHAM OPEN and Shane took gold in an enthralling race as he touched home in a NEW PB swim of 2:09.66 some 4 seconds inside his bronze medal winning time from Irish Nationals in July. After a strong result in the heats to qualify in 3rd fastest from the heats, SHANE went for gold in the final to out-touch his team mate by .3 of a second to take gold in this, one of his favourite events.
NB to one and all - Shane proves again that in a tight race for the finish YOU have just got to be the ONE who GETS TO THE WALL first and WINS the race for yourself.
Well done SHANE - All the hard work is paying off now. Shane joins the TEAM at the Dave McCullagh meet on Friday in Limerick.
Tuesday 25 March 2008
LEINSTER Squads Weekend
A BIG Well done to the following Individuals who qualified for the Leinster Squads Training weekend in the NAC with Terry Denison over Easter.
Friday 21st
Friday 21st
- Shane Faul
- Amy McSherry
Saturday 22nd
- Niamh Murphy
- Daire O'Driscoll
- Ian Thom
Sunday 23rd
- Alison O'Driscoll
- Niamh Bryson
- Anne-Marie Finn
- Ciara Robinson
- Dayna Clegg
- Grace Branagan
- John Martin
Given Easter Weekend not everyone could make it but well done to ALL of you who were selected for the weekend.
Saturday 15 March 2008
SHANE FAUL finishes 2nd in Warwickshire County Championships
As he starts to prepare for the final few weeks in to the Dave McCullagh Meet, Shane Faul's preparations took a well earned boost this afternoon in the Warwickshire County Championships 2008 At Coventry Sports and Leisure Centre when he finished the 200IM in a strong PB swim of 2:17.00 inside his old PB by over 1.5 seconds, to take the silver medal in the event.
Well done Shane, keep up the good work.
Saturday 8 March 2008
TEAM TSC MASTERS bring home 20 GOLD at IRISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
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
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
Sunday 2 March 2008
TEAM TSC deliver superb results at Trojan Gala
Yet again this season our TEAM delivered consistently strong swims and technically and tactically good races over the course of the weekend.
After a weekend where many athletes swam a number of events it was great to see our athletes continue to understand the benefits in developing the technical and tactical aspects of their races. One of the most impressive things I have seen this year to date is that as a TEAM, our swimmers are now learning how to race their races in the most skillful way and also understand how to pace the races of 200M and above. The skills developed in training are the most important aspect of improving your times. As you develop your skills with increasing training volumes and speed, your transfer to racing will get better and better.
You need to continuously develop your skills and be aware when you are tired in training that concentration on technique and skills are the most important elements of what you do EVERY STROKE, EVERY LENGTH, EVERY SET, EVERY SESSION, EVERY DAY. Set yourself a SKILLS target in training,
- Focus on NO BREATHING off your pushoffs in to break out strokes,
- Make your TURNS, your opportunity for ADVANTAGE because they are better, faster and more streamlined than EVERYONE else.
- COUNT your strokes on KEY sets,
- Develop SPEED without increasing strokes per length
- BE FASTER and stronger on UNDERWATER FLY kick on ALL your push-offs,
- GET to 6M, then 7M, then 8M underwater and learn how to build it up to 10M and then to the OLYMPIC 15M mark - where WORLD RECORD HOLDERS get to !!!!!.
- Remind yourself of the need for GREAT LEGS on ALL strokes
Results for the weekend will follow on the web but well done to ALL swimmers in the TEAM who delivered PB's and excellent swims over the weekend.
TEAM TSC on the TELLY - Kazoo RTE's DEN TV - Valentine's Day 2008
For those of you who missed the Kazoo programme on Friday, the TEAM TSC segment can be see on RTE online at the following link:
A Big THANK YOU to EVERYONE responsible to make this happen. It's a great representation of our Club, YOUR club.
THOMS HAT-TRICK at LEINSTER OPEN Championships shows the way for GREAT TEAM TSC Performance
Templeogue Swimmer Ian Thom (left)continued his rich vein of form with three impressive results at the recent Leinster OPEN Long Course Championships in the NAC. Ian has had an impressive start to the season winning the 50FC in the Leinster SC Championships prior to Christmas and also medalling in both the 100M and 200M event also.
His continued form saw him place in the silver medal position in the Sprint and middle distance event at last weekends Leinster Long Course championships with an additional 4th place inish in the 100M event also.
Not happy with that Ian and his Templeogue Swim Club Team mates also went on to claim two bronze medal results in the relay events. Thom teamed up in the distance Freestyle Relay with Daire O’Driscoll, Liam O’Neill and Finbar McTiernan to finish in the bronze medal position and also went on to claim the same bronze medal result in the sprint freestyle relay with O’Driscoll, Thom & McTiernan teaming up with Dylan Farrell to pull out the results in that event.
As a TEAM the Templeogue TEAM had 4 members in the semi-finals and finals of both the mens and womens 100FC and showed that the depth in the squad contonues to impress as they had the largest individual team size of any Leinster club a the meet. Juniors Dayna Clegg and Grace Branagan made top 8 finishes with Clegg twice finishing in 4th place, which for a 12 year old is impressive result in what are Open Womens events. Finbar McTiernan was the other medallist for Templeogue as he placed in the Sprint backcrawl events to claim his first Leinster Regional Medal with a 3rd place result. Big improvements from Brian Feighan, Liam O’Neill and John Martin were testament to the work the team is putting in, whereas Daire O’Driscoll’s continued improvement saw him deliver a 4th place finish in a less than favoured event for him, the tough 200BF. Conor O’Keeffe and Eoin Mongey too showed good form as did a fully fit Cian Murphy who just missed out on a semi-final in the sprint BF event.
Templeogue Girls Niamh Murphy & Amy McSherry also made a number of finals and demonstrated season best form in many of their events. Allied to the performances of the more experienced athletes, the Templeogue TEAM saw first timers Saoirse Forde-Morrin, Martha O’Donoghue and Eva Martin show just how strong the team is as they and their other young team members, Alison O’Driscoll, Anne-Marie Finn, Niamh Bryson and Ciara Robinson swam to semi-final placings and big best times in their events. The other girls on the team Aoife Newe, Gemma Houlihan, Laura Martin and Emma Crossan also delivered solid performances and seaons's best efforts in their events, in their first LC meet this year.
Thom now joins his Masters Team Mates Andrew Farrell (left), and coaches Peter Sherry & Brian Lee as they travel to the Irish Masters Championships in Limerick this weekend and yet again attack the Irish records which they demolished last year.
His continued form saw him place in the silver medal position in the Sprint and middle distance event at last weekends Leinster Long Course championships with an additional 4th place inish in the 100M event also.
Not happy with that Ian and his Templeogue Swim Club Team mates also went on to claim two bronze medal results in the relay events. Thom teamed up in the distance Freestyle Relay with Daire O’Driscoll, Liam O’Neill and Finbar McTiernan to finish in the bronze medal position and also went on to claim the same bronze medal result in the sprint freestyle relay with O’Driscoll, Thom & McTiernan teaming up with Dylan Farrell to pull out the results in that event.
As a TEAM the Templeogue TEAM had 4 members in the semi-finals and finals of both the mens and womens 100FC and showed that the depth in the squad contonues to impress as they had the largest individual team size of any Leinster club a the meet. Juniors Dayna Clegg and Grace Branagan made top 8 finishes with Clegg twice finishing in 4th place, which for a 12 year old is impressive result in what are Open Womens events. Finbar McTiernan was the other medallist for Templeogue as he placed in the Sprint backcrawl events to claim his first Leinster Regional Medal with a 3rd place result. Big improvements from Brian Feighan, Liam O’Neill and John Martin were testament to the work the team is putting in, whereas Daire O’Driscoll’s continued improvement saw him deliver a 4th place finish in a less than favoured event for him, the tough 200BF. Conor O’Keeffe and Eoin Mongey too showed good form as did a fully fit Cian Murphy who just missed out on a semi-final in the sprint BF event.
Templeogue Girls Niamh Murphy & Amy McSherry also made a number of finals and demonstrated season best form in many of their events. Allied to the performances of the more experienced athletes, the Templeogue TEAM saw first timers Saoirse Forde-Morrin, Martha O’Donoghue and Eva Martin show just how strong the team is as they and their other young team members, Alison O’Driscoll, Anne-Marie Finn, Niamh Bryson and Ciara Robinson swam to semi-final placings and big best times in their events. The other girls on the team Aoife Newe, Gemma Houlihan, Laura Martin and Emma Crossan also delivered solid performances and seaons's best efforts in their events, in their first LC meet this year.
Thom now joins his Masters Team Mates Andrew Farrell (left), and coaches Peter Sherry & Brian Lee as they travel to the Irish Masters Championships in Limerick this weekend and yet again attack the Irish records which they demolished last year. Between these four men in 2007 they rewrote Irish Master records with some 18 new records for the books and already this year Farrell has set 3 so far. The principal record attempts this weekend are the relay records as Templeogue do not currently hold any of them and these men are out to prove that the TEAM strength is definitely their greatest asset.
Well done and best of luck to them. 2008 is looking good for TEAM TSC.
Shane is No FALL guy
Shane Faul (left), this 17 yr old Templeogue swimmer made a big move in September 2007 last with a move to the UK to the City of Coventry University to pursue both his academic and sporting ambitions.
Winner of the 2007 Irish Age Group championships in the 400IM and a regular performer at National and Regional level Shane’s promise as a swimmer has never been in question.
In December 2006 mid-way through his Leaving Cert year Shane made a bold decision to move clubs and joined Templeogue Swim Club to try and move his performances to another level.
Having completed his studies Shane’s ambition was to consider a move to one of the large universities in the UK where there were strong Swimming Teams. Having joined Coventry University Swim team in October he left his club colleagues in Templeogue, Moved over to the UK and started in to a tough regime of Long course training with double sessions daily since Sepember. With a brief trip home for Christmas Shane’s dedication to training and realising his dreams took a big step forward over the last few weekends.
Shane competed in the British Universities Swimming Association Championships in Sheffield and realised two lifetime best times to finish in 14th place in the 200FC (which would have finished 3rd behind Templeogue team mate Ian Thom at the Leinster Open Championships last weekend) and 10th in the 400FC in a time which would have allowed him finish 3rd also in the Leinster Championships. These are strong indicators that when fully rested and prepared for the upcoming Irish Selection meets in Limerick in March and back in the NAC in May, Shane’s ambitions to qualify for Irish TEAM selection will get an opportunity to be realised.
Given he is only in first year in college in the UK and some 2 to 3 years younger than most of his current Coventry Team Mates his improvement in that programme will continue to his advantage.
Shane rejoins his Templegoue Swim Club Team mates at the Dave McCullagh meet in Limerick on 28th to 30th March. Best of luck to him.
Winner of the 2007 Irish Age Group championships in the 400IM and a regular performer at National and Regional level Shane’s promise as a swimmer has never been in question.
In December 2006 mid-way through his Leaving Cert year Shane made a bold decision to move clubs and joined Templeogue Swim Club to try and move his performances to another level.
Having completed his studies Shane’s ambition was to consider a move to one of the large universities in the UK where there were strong Swimming Teams. Having joined Coventry University Swim team in October he left his club colleagues in Templeogue, Moved over to the UK and started in to a tough regime of Long course training with double sessions daily since Sepember. With a brief trip home for Christmas Shane’s dedication to training and realising his dreams took a big step forward over the last few weekends.
Shane competed in the British Universities Swimming Association Championships in Sheffield and realised two lifetime best times to finish in 14th place in the 200FC (which would have finished 3rd behind Templeogue team mate Ian Thom at the Leinster Open Championships last weekend) and 10th in the 400FC in a time which would have allowed him finish 3rd also in the Leinster Championships. These are strong indicators that when fully rested and prepared for the upcoming Irish Selection meets in Limerick in March and back in the NAC in May, Shane’s ambitions to qualify for Irish TEAM selection will get an opportunity to be realised.
Given he is only in first year in college in the UK and some 2 to 3 years younger than most of his current Coventry Team Mates his improvement in that programme will continue to his advantage.
Shane rejoins his Templegoue Swim Club Team mates at the Dave McCullagh meet in Limerick on 28th to 30th March. Best of luck to him.
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