Participants preparing for the Tralee Bay Swimming Club World Series event.
THE first swim in the World Series took place last Thursday night and what an evening it turned out to be.
The sun was shining and the water was flat calm. A record number of 94 swimmers registered on the night with 82 staring the race.
This included an incredible 24 new swimmers to the series and is a testament to the growing popularity of Open Water Swimming as a sport.
The 500 metre race was a bit late to start due to the huge numbers registering. Our new format of 3 individual groups was put in place with the elite group ‘A’ taking to the water first and what a race it was.
The full group of 16 were still together at the turn at the second buoy and the sprint to the finish was great to watch with less than 1 minute separating first and last.
Group B started 5 minutes later and group C 5 minutes after that which included the 24 who were setting times for a new handicap.
Brendan OConnell gave justice to the number 1 on his cap by being first home and setting the fastest time of the night amongst some very stiff competition.
After handicaps were applied, results are; Group A 1st Sean Kenny, 2nd Brendan O’Connell and 3rd Ciara Tierney .
Group B 1st Daniel Doyle, 2nd Donal Fitzgibbon and 3rd Majella Diskin.
Group C 1st Suzanne OSullivan , 2nd Jackie Rutledge and 3rd Garven Cronin.
Well done to all the winners and indeed to all who took part and helped on the night. Our next race takes place on Monday 16th June.
Participants in the Tralee Bay Swimming Club World Series event.
