Swimming gala kicks off aquatic season

Pictured: one of the competitors in the swimming pool at Sportsco.

Pictured: one of the competitors in the swimming pool at Sportsco.

The ESB swimming club gala has kicked to next summer’s National Finals. Over the weekend of the 12th and 13th of November at Sportsco on the South Lotts Rd, swimming clubs from all over the country attended this long-running aquatic event with their families and friends who came along to show their support.

Clubs from Newry and Ballina travelled to the event, along with big clubs such as the Aer Lingus Swimming Club.

These competitions are strictly run events, using electronic timers and adhering to the Swim Ireland standards to which the club is affiliated. “Each swimmer wants to beat his personal best,” said club chairman Joe Gavaghan.

“The gala is the beginning of the season. It determines what future races competitors can enter en route to the national finals,” said club secretary, David Rossiter, when describing what the weekend’s gala meant to the entrants.

NewsFour asked the general manager of Sportsco, Lorna Brady, about the relationship between Sportsco and the ESB swimming club. “We are just glad to be here to encourage the kids in the local area to learn how to swim and compete,” said Brady. “Sportsco is extremely proud to have encouraged the local community in its quest for fit and healthy lifestyles over the years.

Indeed, we are proud to state we are responsible for many children and adults learning how to swim over the past 37 years. We hope to continue this trend for many years to come and are committed to a policy of continuous improvement and embracing the ever-changing leisure industry.”

Originally, Sportsco was a sports and social club for the ESB staff and families. “In fact, we still have ESB members’ kids in the club,” said Rossiter. The club has been in existence for over 65 years and during this time has taught thousands of local children the essential life-skill of swimming.

Pictured Above: 2008 Olympian Aisling Cooney with Bill McCarthy, Head Coach at ESB Swimming Club.

Pictured Above: 2008 Olympian Aisling Cooney with Bill McCarthy, Head Coach at ESB Swimming Club.

Many of these children have progressed to swim competitively for the club to much acclaim, most notably, Sandymount resident, Aisling Cooney, who represented Ireland at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Cooney was present at the gala event and returns to the club regularly to give inspirational talks to the members, along with tips and advice.

Over the weekend, the gala had 64 separate events with 20 different clubs attending, bringing over 200 swimmers. The gala is the club’s main fundraising method and was helped out by a generous donation of a signed jersey from the Ireland team that beat the All Blacks this autumn which was up for grabs in their raffle.

For more information on the ESB swimming club, see www.esbsc.com, contact Joe Gavaghan on 087 8197789 or email: gavaghanjoe@gmail.com

By Paul Carton