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The 2024 Irish Winter Championships came to a close tonight in the Sport Ireland National Aquatic Centre following three days of thrilling racing and newly crowned national champions throughout the weekend.

The 200m Backstroke opened evening proceedings, as the open category headed to the blocks first. Brandon Biss (Swim Belfast) and Neddie Irwin (National Centre Limerick) went stroke for stroke as they battled it out for national title, it was Biss who came away with the win by just .71 of a second. New Ross’ Emmet Cousins was next home to claim bronze.

Maria Godden continued her impressive week adding the 200m Backstroke national gold to the three golds won the previous two days, the National Centre (Limerick) swimmer dominated the race from the onset, finishing in a time of 2:06.92. Her nearest competitor, Victoria Catterson (National Centre Dublin) was next home in 2:09.54, bronze was claimed by UCD’s Jena Macdougald.

Calum Bain made it a hattrick of gold medals this weekend, this time the national title came in his favoured event, the 50m Freestyle. The National Centre Dublin swimmer stormed through the water in 21.49 to stop the clock first. Cody Dunnion (National Centre Ulster) and Thomas Leggett (Larne) claimed second and third, respectively. Grace Davison topped the podium in the female event in a time of 25.25, Rosalie Phelan of National Centre Dublin was next home in 25.79, third and bronze went to Ava Jones (Portmarnock) in 26.18.

National Centre Dublin’s Liam O’Connor edged out Bangor’s Adam Bradley by a mere .05 of a second in the Open 50m Breaststroke to claim the national gold in 27.59, bronze went to Dmytro Cherkasov of Dolphin. Portmarnock sibling’s Ava and Megan Jones went stroke for stroke once again, this time Ava claimed the bragging rights by touching the wall first in the female event, Templeogue’s Abril Allende finished closely behind in bronze position.

Brogan McAviney of National Centre Limerick topped the podium in the Open 100m Butterfly, clocking a time of 53.13, silver back across Dublin with UCD’s David O’Loughlin, bronze was claimed by Sean Donnellan of Glenalbyn. National Centre Ulster’s Alana Burns-Atkin broke the one-minute barrier (59.55) on her way to national gold, Grace Davison took another trip to the podium, this time picking up silver, the national bronze went to Danielle Farrell (National Centre Limerick).

The penultimate event of the competition was the 100m Individual Medley, Charlie Cassidy (National Centre Limerick) picked up the open national gold in 56.48, with silver going to Matthew Hand (Bangor) and bronze to John Mulhall of UCD. There was another UCD swimmer on the podium, this time it was Jena Macdougald, who won the national title in the female race, clocking 1:02.35. Portmarnock swimmer Megan Jones was next to stop the clock on her way to silver with bronze going to Cork with Lexi Dunne of Dolphin.

The 400m Freestyle was the final event of the meet with the open category heading to the blocks first. Cormac Rynn of National Centre Limerick touched the wall in 3:48.06 to win the national title. Lachey Reed (National Centre Ulster) and Rynn’s teammate Denis O’Brien both joined Rynn on the podium, in second and third respectively.

National Centre Limerick’s Maria Godden brought the championships to a close with her fourth national title of the weekend with a time of 4:13.93. Skye Austin-Burrows (Larne) and Mollie McAlorum (National Centre Ulster) were next to stop the clock, respectively.

Earlier today, Larne topped the podium in the Open 200m Medley Relay clocking 1:42.41 to take home gold, Dolphin finished a close second (1:42.87) with Lisburn touching the wall next in 1:43.40. Cork club Sundays Well claimed the gold in the female category with a time of 1:56.26, Dolphin claimed another relay silver with Trojan claiming the final spot on the podium.

Full results can be found HERE.